And Again Once More (Closed)

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"I love you," Dare whispered again. They couldn't have Michael! He wouldn't allow it! "Let him have your wand," he suggested. His mind was too fuzzy to think about how bad that would look against the accusation, but the other choice was blaming Lalita for more than she'd done. He very nearly hated the girl, but Ivy was the one who needed locked in Azkaban. He felt no pity for her.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael didn't even have his wand anymore, he realized, and he wanted to talk to Grey and tell him the truth. But what if he told and then there wasn't anything to be done about it? What if he couldn't be protected and ended up locked away anyway? He turned his head on Dare's shoulder to look up at Eros. "Do you think we should tell?" he asked.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Eros arched an eyebrow at Michael. "Frankly, I don't see why you would take the risk," he said. "You're fortunate as hell you aren't in Azkaban already, you know." Whatever that last bit with the so-called Boat Party should have been enough, since Michael had been caught outright, but a repeat, for whatever reason, would look very bad, in whatever context. There was, perhaps unfortunately, no law which said that Unforgivables were Forgivable if someone else used one first.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"I didn't see it!" Dare whispered, the declaration nearly a hiss against Michael's neck. He hadn't seen Michael use the spell, and he'd lie if he had to, he'd perjure himself to God and the Ministry to keep Michael out of Azkaban. "I'm not letting you go."

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael didn't know what to do. But if they lied or tried to trick the Ministry and they found out, all of them would be in trouble instead of just him. He didn't want to go! His mind searched frantically for an answer that he just couldn't find. "If we lie, then you two could get in trouble," he said. He didn't want to even consider the idea of Dare being punished for something like that.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

"Only if they find out, Michael, and you've been an upstanding, if gossip-worthy, citizen for years now," Eros pointed out. "Is your guilty conscience going to disturb you that much, that you would risk giving that deluded girl what she wants?" Eros simply could not understand what Michael was thinking. It was as simple as snapping his wand, buying a new one, and forgetting the entire ordeal, and he wanted to confess and cross his fingers that they forgave him? Again?

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare shook his head at Michael's question, but didn't say another word; his throat had closed up from the fear of losing Michael. He didn't care if he could get in trouble. At least he'd be with Michael instead of trying to live without him. What kind of life could he possibly have knowing that Michael was... He wouldn't let himself finish the thought. It wouldn't happen. He'd take Michael and run away to Spain first.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael knew how much his conscience could bother him, but the idea of being away from Dare any longer was enough to make him agree to try to get out of it. It would be weird to have a new wand, but if it kept him with Dare... "Okay," he said finally, then turned his head to bury his face in Dare's neck again.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Eros didn't give Michael a chance to second-guess himself. He reached into his pocket for the collection of wands he'd gathered and tossed Michael's to the floor near the smear of disturbed dust where he'd fallen. Some steps over to where the Somers girl lay, and her wand did the job of destroying Michael's before he dropped it as well, somewhere near her hand. The other girl, most likely Lalita, now that he thought of it, regained her wand as well. Dare's returned to its place in his pocket for now. "It is done, then," he said at last.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's heart had seized at the sound of Michael's wand snapping, but at those four words from Eros, one of many weights lifted from his shoulders, even if he knew how hard this would be, both for Michael and for him. Michael still carried guilt for things he'd done long before, but would the guilt really be worse than Azkaban? No, he told himself, and brought one hand up to smooth against Michael's hair in the hope of comforting him.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

It was wrong, he knew it, and Michael cringed at the snap of his wand. There was a moment of panic, where he wanted to run and attempt to fix it, quickly followed by a deep sorrow that he shouldn't have felt for a thin piece of wood. He shouldn't feel this way about it, but it had been with him through so much. It had saved his life, and the lives of others, and it had caused so much pain. He didn't think it would ever feel right holding another wand.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Eros could understand Michael's attachment to his wand, an additional appendage from the very beginnings of adolescence, but it was for the greater good. He gave his friend some minutes to grieve before excusing himself to summon the authorities, since they had yet to arrive. It would look better that way, he decided, than to simply be found waiting with their attackers.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare and Michael's reunion was cut short by the arrival of a group of Aurors, a couple of which were familiar. It was horribly awkward telling them what had happened, how they'd attacked him on the school lawns, how he'd run, and even thrown himself out a window in an attempt to escape. He hadn't eaten, and all the water he'd had was runoff from the makeshift shower he'd had. His wrists looked bad, and likely worse than they would have been had he not attempted to worry the ropes loose every time Ivy blinked or looked away. He'd likely have scars for his efforts, not that it would matter if he did, since he kept his wrists covered most of the time. He gave them what answers he could, telling them he'd been stunned, and when Eros had waken him, Michael's wand had already been broken. If he felt guilt for the lie, it wasn't hitting him. As far as he was concerned, this was a matter of survival.

[Michael Blackwood-Hardt]

Michael answered what he could, telling his side of the story, even though he realized how little sense it made to be clinging desperately to Dare when he had been supposedly dumped just a few days before. But he couldn't pull away from Dare, especially not after hearing what he had been through. Dare had been all but tortured and he had just been sitting around moping for hours on end!

He had always been a good liar, so his answer about the wand and what had happened since he had gotten to the shack was more instinct than thought, though the guilt would eat at him later. He just wanted to be told he could go home so that he could spend some time with Dare, and maybe actually get some sleep or eat or something.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

The Aurors took the girls with them when they left, to question in private. They herded Dare, Michael, and Eros out ahead of them, promising, though Dare wasn't at all anticipating it, that they'd be in touch. All Dare wanted was to be home with Michael.