Dare You to Move (Willow/Dare)

[Willow Wenlock]

Willow chuckled, "I'd call mine Silver, but I think that name is already taken." She noticed the switch of the boy's hands, and smiled as she flipped her wand to try to do the same. The bouncing ball she'd tried to turn the puff into ended with a flat side, and a not quiet bouncy round side. She shook her head, as she reached out with her just barely grown out, clear, straight nails and took the puff in her hand, stroking it's rounded side as she switched hands and tapped it with her wand, causing tufts of silver hair to blossom in every direction.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"You know Silver?" Dare asked, then shook his head at himself. "Captain Obvious," he said to himself, a brief joke before he went on. "He's my brother. Decent guy. Book addict." He might have downplayed that, except for her avid interest in books. He figured the least he could do was give Silver a hand up. He looked at the girl again, smirking inwardly at the color of her hair, and thinking how exactly Silver's style she seemed.

[Willow Wenlock]

He's my brother, Willow let the thought bounce around for a moment, as she thought about what Silver had said of his brother. He'd only been mentioned that first time they'd met, when they'd talked on the way to class, but she could only remember the last conversation they'd had, or rather, where it had gone after that. The girl who'd showed up had been forgotten for the memories of how easy the slip into it had been and how much she truly had enjoyed his poetry. "Dare, right?" She asked, even as she felt a massive blush wash through her, he knew she knew Silver, but the association was unknown, and she felt like she was giving it away for knowing or remembering Dare's name.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Yeah, Dare," he said, wondering what was going through her mind right now. He saw the blush, but it had come at his name, not his brother's. He caught his pygmy puff and found it a place in his book bag again, then shifted to tuck away his wand. "So, you meet in the Common Room or what?" he asked casually. He realized he still didn't know her name, but if he asked someone, it'd be easy enough to describe her so he went on with feeling out the situation.

[Willow Wenlock]

Common rooms, had she even been to the common rooms as more than a conduit to her dormitory on the night she decided to actually sleep? She shook her head, cheeks still mantled with a rosy hue, "no, he caught me admiring the lake my first day back. He was really easy to talk to." She cleared her throat, and tried not to look at all like she had spent the better part of a lunch period initiating contact with his brother. "The other stable person I was talking about."

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Easy to talk to? Dare thought. If that was true, at least in her mind, then that put a totally different spin on the blushing. "Sounds like you had fun," he said, teasing just slightly. He didn't want to scare her away though, so he looked for a change of subject. "Your pygmy puff's trying to escape." That'd work.

[Willow Wenlock]

Fun, Willow couldn't help the beaming smile that slid across her lips, but she attempted to hide some of it from Dare's view, by allowing what hair had come lose to slide across her face. She didn't know what she had with Silver, there had been a nice discussion, two, and then a nice kiss. A really nice kiss, her skin heated up again, but she wouldn't put definitions on what had happened, right now they were just friends.

Good friends she hoped, but she wouldn't push anything unless it was mutual. Instead she allowed herself to be distracted by the pygmy puff catching at him as he rolled off to one side, "we talked about writing," she said, not wanting him to think she was suddenly deaf or dumb. It seemed safe enough to say that they had been discussing writing, because it was part of the truth.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's soft smile widened. His brother didn't have any kind of finesse with girls, but his moves, however inefficient they were, were obvious. They'd talked about writing. "Read any of his poetry?" he asked, amusing himself with the secret tease. "He doesn't show it to everyone." Occasionally to friends or family, and very rarely to someone he didn't know well. The girl's hair wasn't doing anything to hide her obvious reactions. He told himself he'd let it go soon.

[Willow Wenlock]

Willow stroked the pygmy puff, who let out soft shivers in her hands. Did Silver really not let everyone read his poetry? It had been so entrancing, she was sure that he'd had to have had it published somewhere. A small nod was all that Willow could manage, "I told him he should try to publish it. He didn't seem to believe me." She raised her head, allowing the blush to fade, even though it took an almost physical exertion to do so. "But, I didn't get to talk to him about it for very long. Another girl came by to talk to him."

There wasn't hurt or upset in her features or her voice about that. She had left, happy with what had happened, and unaware that something else might have occured once she left. She held no claim on Silver. Claim could only be held through mutual agreement, and they hadn't talked about that, and she wasn't sure they would.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's first thought was Brindle. She made the most sense, and besides, who else had Silver ever really talked to, but people he knew were safe? His second thought was Dru and his third Anna, but as far as he knew, both of them had been scarce to missing all term. Whoever it might have been, Dare didn't attach any real significance to the statement.

"I keep telling Silver he's going to write the next American Great Wizarding Novel, but he doesn't believe me, either. I've told him I'm going to steal one of his books and get stuff printed for him, but I lost that opportunity when I moved out." He raised his left hand to view and used his right to tug his arm warmer back enough to expose a silver ring with a copper pattern of leaves. "My partner owns the pet shop," he said. "We live over it in Diagon Alley." Everyone knew, thanks to the Prophet.

[Willow Wenlock]

"Silver might have mentioned at least some of it. Although he didn't mention the pet shop. Is that how I'm going to get to keep the puff?" Willow grinned at that, the thought of being on someone's inside track for friendly things was more than she would have ever expected. She looked down at the puff again, remembering what she'd told Silver, "I told him he was really lucky to have a brother, and especially one as close as the two of you seem to be. He told me about joining boycotts with you." She looked up again at Dare, "he seems really protective of your happiness." It must be nice she thought again, to have someone like that.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare shifted uncomfortably, but forced a friendly smile. "Yeah, awesome," he said. His brother had never been protective of his happiness. He was protective of Silver, but Silver was his younger brother, and Dare owed it to him to make up for everything that had happened, and the fact that he'd been too absorbed in his own guilt and pain to really do anything. "But yeah, I'll let Michael know if Professer laSalle returns them to hold onto them for a couple days." A far preferable topic of conversation.

[Willow Wenlock]

Willow felt like she might have hit a nerve with that comment, though she hadn't meant anything by it other than that she was envious. Did she pursue it, or did she leave it. It wasn't really any of her business to get involved with these things, when she hardly knew Silver at all? Time to switch the topic she decided, it wouldn't do any good to alienate someone that she was forming a camaraderie with. Willow gestured at the ring, "it's really lovely. Who did you purchase it from?"

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

This was the first time Dare had been questioned about the ring itself. Usually the question was who proposed to whom, or some comment about it not counting, since they weren't married anyway. Both questions were easy enough to ignore. The proposal was no one's business unless Michael wanted to spread it, and they were married. Albeit in Spain. In the Muggle world. With the help of some magically-fixed paperwork. He might have been interested in telling someone the story of the rings, but their falling-out with the guy he'd bought it from had been an epic disaster.

"There's a jewelry store in Hogsmeade," he said, putting it as simply as he could. He didn't feel like detailing the story of why Emilian was one of the most miserable liars to have made it into Gryffindor. "If you have to go in, be careful of the guy behind the counter." With that bit of advice, he left it.

[Willow Wenlock]

She had no intention of going to the jewelry store, who did she have to buy jewelry for? If Willow really wanted something for herself all she had to do was ask her mother to buy something and she would, but despite her mother's desire to dress her in baubles, she didn't have a tendency to wear them. "I think I'd be more likely to make a trip to Shutter & Brush." She grimaced, "I have to take photos of this little guy, but I don't have a camera. Can you imagine that, even though wizards are becoming more and more like muggles with gadgets and such, I do not own a camera."