Dare You to Move (Willow/Dare)

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare was well aware that he was in the library, but as he scanned the shelves for a specific potions book, he kept catching himself humming. It was low, but he couldn't help it, it kept him distracted and distraction was welcome right now. So he let himself sing softly, let himself stay aware of it rather than forget himself.

His fingers ran along the spines of the books, but when he'd reached the end of the shelf, he still hadn't found what he was looking for. He paused a moment, looking down at the book bag he had slung against his hip, but it didn't make his textbook suddenly have better directions for wolfsbane potion.

He gave a sigh, then resumed singing. It was Dare You to Move right now, a Muggle song that seemed appropriate enough, all things considered. Maybe redemption has stories to tell, maybe forgiveness is right where you fell. Where can you run to escape from yourself? Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go? He rounded the end of the shelf to continue his search and collided with something he couldn't help catching hold of.

[Willow Wenlock]

An afternoon in the library was just what she needed, it seemed every time she went to settle down with a good book, someone was there. When Willow had been a third year the school hadn't seemed so full, you could disappear into a crevice or two, hole up for a few days and not be found. So, today Willow had taken a break from her classes, with the permission of her teachers, and was intent on studying up.

She'd made it through several shelves and had stocked up on a number of books. Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes, Notable Magical Names of Our Time, Confronting the Faceless, Why I Didn't Die When the Augerey Cried, and she had been looking for a specific potions book as well. Moste Potente Potions. If she thought she would have been able to find the The Invisible Book of Invisibility the librarian swore that it existed someplace in the library. Willow smiled as she thought about the week she'd spent searching for it years ago.

Her mind had been preoccupied with that thought, not watching the rows of shelves, because not very many people spent time in the library any longer. Many of those had been taking naps, like that one odd kid she'd seen. So when someone came around the corner, she hadn't been able to stop the collision either, and her stack of books fell out of her hands, while she also grabbed onto the person for stability, her hair half coming loose from the quick bun she'd put it up in.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare stammered apologies as he set the girl back on her feet, his large hands both reluctant and all too eager to release her waist so he could take half a step back. His pulse was racing far too quickly for comfort as he pushed his book bag around his hip and crouched to help with a stack of books that he was sure would impress his brother. "Apparently I can't walk and sing at the same time," he said, a reflexive attempt at letting humor alleviate the tension. When was the last time he'd touched a girl in any way, shape, or form? He had no clue. Probably the dance at the ceremony.

[Willow Wenlock]

Flustered, Willow bent down to help with the books as well, her hands trying to push her hair back into some semblance of order, although the cause was lost from the beginning. Half of it swung into her face, while the other half maintained it's loose bun shape. "It's no problem really. I wasn't paying attention either. I was thinking about finding the The Invisible Book of Invisibility." She looked at the boy as she grabbed one of the books, smoothing and reordering the pages in an almost compulsive fashion.

He looked really tall, at least a half foot taller than she was personally. His hair lay across his face, multiple shades of hair coloring the fringe that fell over his eyes. He reminded her of someone, but she couldn't place the similarities. She set the puzzle aside for a moment to analyze later, perhaps when she had more information.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare gave a brief chuckle at that. "Good luck," he said wryly. "You'd be better off ordering it from the store." He reached for another book, exposing nails painted a deep violet to view. It was still cold, so he still wore his long arm warmers, ones with thumbholes that half covered his hands as well. His ring was hidden, but everyone knew anyway, and it wasn't like he'd ever needed it as proof he was taken. He wore a dark green Weird Sisters tee and dark pants that fit his form, a chunky studded belt and heavy snow boots. He hated his feet suffocating all day, hated the heat, but the first time he'd worn them in knee-deep snow, he'd stopped arguing with Michael that he'd gone overboard.

When he held as many books as the girl had let him pick up, he finally raised his head to look at her through the multicolor curtain of his hair. Silver. Her hair wasn't grey, it was Silver, and she couldn't have been any older than he was. "So um, sorry," he said again. "And no problem, it was a joint disaster." It'd be such a challenge to draw hair like that, to pick out all the tints and shades that reflected off the waves.

[Willow Wenlock]

Willow let out a chuckle at that, "I've been looking for that book a few years now. Madam Pince swears that we received a shipment of them in when I was a second year." She sat up, her loose hair settling against one shoulder, covering an arm of the thin cardigan she'd shrugged on over her typical white tee. "It's more of a challenge now." She allowed a small smile to curve her lips, "one day I'll be victorious. And if I'm not, well if you see me with a copy of it, just promise you won't tell anyone where I actually got it."

She tucked the one book up under her right arm, and let her left arm smooth down her clothes settling them into place. She knew it was supposed to be cold and dreary here, but she supposed after a lifetime of English weather she wasn't cold, other than the cardigan, and some fashionable boots covering her fitted jeans, she didn't have anything that said she was dressed for warm. After all, a good breath of English winter air was bracing.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare had been telling himself for a month that the bracing English winter was almost over. It drove him crazy after a lifetime in a place where winter was defined by the plants wilting for a couple rainy months. It was why he was inside when he far preferred to spend his free periods by the lake, if not drawing then absorbing. It just wasn't the same without Michael, though.

"If I see you with a copy of it, promise you won't ask how," Dare said, the teasing arch of one dark eyebrow just visible behind his fringe. "But who knows, maybe I'm some kind of superhero in disguise, and I'm just faking like I can't see it now." His lips curved into a hint of a crooked smile, and he pushed to his feet, tucking the girl's books under one arm and offering her the other hand up. He was over 6'2" now, and aware of it enough that his habitual slouch hadn't eased a bit.

[Willow Wenlock]

Willow laughed, her eyes sparkling with humor as she took his proffered hand up, using it to stand, "thanks." She still hadn't decided how she was going to read the book if she ever managed to find it, but still, it was the challenge. When she was standing she had to give herself a mental wow that the guy was sooo tall. Even if he was slouching, Willow still had to tilt her head up a bit to see him, she felt like she was small and delicate, when she really wasn't that short, she could reach most of the shelving in the library.

Willow tried not to stare up at him, but it was a bit impossible given his height, and his hair, and the eyes that she had just noticed. Instead she smiled up at him, "so you know what I was looking for, what were you looking for?" Not that she needed the change of subject, just it felt more comfortable than staring at him, she really didn't need a repeat of Silver. She was still interested there, but after...the other girl had showed up, it was probably best just to be careful.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare tossed a glance at the shelf he'd been about to scour. "Potions," he said, idly scanning a few books on the top shelf. "Wolfsbane. Professor Medina assigned it, but the textbook isn't..." He shrugged lightly as he looked for the words. "I'm not following," he said. "So I'm looking for something with more detail to it." He tried not to pay too much attention to the potions he made, to just follow the instructions and get it over with, and if the instructions weren't clear and he'd have to make a leap somewhere, he preferred to just hunt down a book that would fill in the blank for him.

[Willow Wenlock]

Wolfsbane? She had only attended one or two classes with Professor Medina and she had been assigned a love potion to complete. She couldn't say that it was unorthodox, but really, wolfsbane, even if he was a seventh year that was a really complex potion that most students shouldn't be handling. "Have you tried Anthropomorphism Potions, it's one of the one's I use a lot. It has pretty detailed instructions on some of the more complicated transfiguration potions."

Willow gestured over to the row she'd been about to go down. Where was it she thought? It was one that she took of the shelves semi-regularly, and was pretty familiar with it. Ah, there it was, she thought. Setting down the book in her arms, she deftly slipped her hair back into a ponytail and then stood up on her tiptoes to reach for one of the books that was on the top shelf elongating the lines of her body.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare couldn't help being momentarily distracted, and he attributed little importance to that distraction. It was natural to look, and he felt no real temptation to do anything he'd regret. Still, he couldn't justify standing there watching when she was stretching like that. He stepped up behind her, just off to the side, and reached over her head to slide the book off the shelf. "I never would have looked here," he said, his voice lowering with the nearness and the quiet of the library. He'd gone straight for W. He kept his mind on that, rather than the curve of the tiny waist her jeans had done nothing to hide.

[Willow Wenlock]

Letting the flats of her feet hit the floor she smiled and shrugged, "when you spend all of your free time in the library, you start to know it like the back of your hand." She chuckled, "I probably know the layout of the library better than the layout of the Ravenclaw girls dormitory. Sydney Smith said that there is no furniture so charming as books." She knew that landed her squarely in Ravenclaw nerd territory, but books help the keys to the past, and the mysteries of the past held the keys to her soul.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

It sounded like something his brother would say. Dare took a deep breath and stepped back. The fact that she hadn't noticed how close he was did nothing for him, so he'd take that small retreat and call it done. "I'm in here about every class looking up whatever potion she assigns. First class I got the Draught of Sleeping Death." And he'd been babysat by Michael the entire time he'd been working on it. Probably a good idea.

[Willow Wenlock]

Willow turned to face him, still somewhat overpowered by how tall he was. "I've only been to one or two of her classes so far, but I was somewhat shocked that she assigned love potions to students." She shook her head, "I'm surprised that we didn't see more lovestruck students over valentine's day." She could just imagine what might have happened, and still might with a bunch of students running around with that type of potion. "She has a lot of faith in the student body to assign such complicated potions." The boy was close enough to her still that she started feeling very feminine, very small, she ran a hand behind her neck to check her ponytail, trying to shrug it off.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare could tell the girl was getting uncomfortable, he was familiar enough with the signs, so he gave a quick glance around. "There's tables over there if you've got some time," he said, gesturing off into the library. They weren't too far off, and though he didn't typically strike up conversations with people, life at home was pretty routine right now, and it sounded like fun.