Avoiding the Masses (Shortcut)|| Open

[Celyn Corvus]

Celyn was not going to go all those flights of stairs and she definitely wasn't going to try and avoid the usual rush hour. The halls were packed with students and the idea of having to squeeze past the many bodies of students made her wrinkle her nose.

Walking down the corridor she did her best to keep to the walls away from students. She turned a corner coming to a narrow corridor with a dead end. She started to count the tapestries coming to a stop at the fifth one. Making sure no one could see she pushed the tapestry to the side revealing an opening that anyone could squeeze through.

The shortcut was one she used often, it got her around the school faster and she was sure only a handful of students knew of it which suited her perfectly. Unlike the Room of Requirement, this was a secret that not many cared to expose and that suited her well. The last thing she needed was her shortcut to become a social hangout.

Celyn was going to continue on her way, but maybe she could just hide out here for a bit and read one of the books she had her father owl her. Pulling out 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde' she opened to the beginning of the 5^th chapter. 'It was late in the afternoon when Mr Utterson found his way to Dr Jekyll's door,...'.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare had learned hundreds of shortcuts his first autumn at Hogwarts, ducking away from the repercussions of having been outed. Before he'd developed a thicker skin against comments in the hallways, before he'd learned a sturdy shield spell to block the jinxes and hexes that had come his way, he'd done everything he could to keep it from escalating further. He'd never claim to know the castle as well as some of the people who'd been there longer than he had, but he had the feeling that not all of them cared how to get from here to there without running into anybody.

He didn't need to hide anymore, but some of the shortcuts saved enough time and hassle that he'd never stopped using them. The one behind the dented suit of armor was one of his favorites. The short trip through to the tapestry would put him almost exactly where he wanted to be and he'd still have enough time to breathe when he got there.

He didn't expect anyone else to be in the hidden corridor, so he wasn't paying as much attention to where he was going as he could have been. He had a sketchbook open in his hands, one he hadn't touched in months, and was looking over a set of sketches on one of the pages, silently debating. The sketches were of a male torso and arms from different viewpoints, a stylized pattern of leafy vine twisting around the left arm up to the shoulder and stretching down over one pectoral muscle, the name that melted into the leaves there only visible because he knew what to look for.

The sketches showed a progression from a design that only took up the space between wrist and elbow, something that could easily be hidden by the arm warmers he wore, to the final stage, replicated in intricate detail. He didn't know why he was still debating, if it was the cost or something else, but he wanted to be completely sure. He wanted no doubt in his mind.

[Celyn Corvus]

It wasn't the longest book and it definitely wasn't one of those books that would stimulate the mind much like others she may have read, but it was fun to pick up every once in a while. Celyn wrinkled her nose, she got bored of books fairly quickly and she found herself itching to do something else. Maybe she could continue her previous drawings, or start something new. Shaking her head she pulled out her bag and emptied the contents taking all things related to classes and pushing them to a side while the rest was sprawled in front of her.

The occasional book caught her eye her eyes pausing on Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was amongst her favorites, but she had read it so many times that she knew it by heart. Once again her mind wandered to drawing, but so far the most recent drawing was that of Silver, and she really didn’t want to look at that. Picking it up, she quickly flipped through the pages only stopping when she knew she was at a blank one. Picking up her box of pencils she picked up a lighter one. Her fingers slowly moved in a slight sideways arc the tiny waist of a woman with a more voluptuous hip.

With her books scattered everywhere, and herself to focused on her drawing she hadn't noticed that another had slipped through into the same shortcut but only from the other end. In fact that person wouldn't be able to easily pass without walking on her stuff or even stepping on her now outstretched legs. Celyn didn't know that others knew of this place.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare wasn't particularly quiet as he walked along, but neither was he loud. He was absorbed though, his concentration focused on the idea of that drawing becoming a reality. Did he need it? Why did he want it? What did it represent? That day, maybe? Michael, his past, their connection? What did it represent for him, though? A way to hide his scars? That wasn't what it had been when he'd first wanted it, but once upon a time it had been a way to hide Michael's. It had been a way to turn those scars into something better, to pull the past, present, and future together into something good.

It was only as he lowered his book to peel back one of his arm warmers that he saw what he was about to walk into. His eyes widened, but the hop-step he did over the first pile of things wasn't enough to save him from catching against her legs, and in an instant his forward momentum had taken him to the floor, or rather, half on top of her.

[Celyn Corvus]

Somewhere in the background she could have sworn she heard something, but with the idea that it could have been one of the portraits she brought herself to ignore the sound. Her eyes trailed along the drawing, tapping her pencil against her lips deep in thought. Not so much because she was planning out her drawing, she never did that, but she allowed her mind to wander to the many possibilities and the many forms it could take.

Celyn looked up and at that exact moment someone had collided with her leg, his fall knocking the sketchbook out of her hands and sending it sliding down the corridor. Unlike with Willow, she was so absorbed with her sketchbook she had even toppled over to the side. Turning her head, she could only see dark hair with streaks of royal purple and a somewhat azure blue only a slight shade darker. Celyn caught herself literally analyzing the shade of his streaks and mocked herself out loud, but instead she reached out a hand to make sure the guy was alright, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. “You still alive down there?” she tried to push herself up, but with him literally on her she couldn’t move her lower body.

Celyn’s mind seemed to drift from her sketchbook which laid sprawled on the ground Silver’s timid smile looking up from the page.

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Ugh," Dare groaned, trying to get his breath back after the fall and force himself to move at the same time. "Sorry!" He worked to get his limbs in order, lifting himself up on his arms first to give the girl he'd fallen on some breathing room. His heart was racing from it and his moss-green eyes were bright with energy behind his fringe.

"Sorry," he said again, moving back onto his knees before he pushed to stand. He offered the girl a hand up without a single glance around and didn't notice her sketchbook or even where his own had fallen. He was still wearing his book bag, but it had opened and many of the contents were mixed in with hers now. It was going to take a while to get everything straightened out.

[Celyn Corvus]

Celyn should have been the one to help out; he was probably hurt worse than she was. Taking his hand she slowly got up, running a hand through her tousled hair and flattening it. "I should be apologizing."

[/color] she looked up at him, and then did a double take when she looked into his eyes. His eyes were almost identical in color to Silvers. Yet, she was positive this guy was someone else, unless Silver went through some massive transformation overnight which she was sure wasn't possible.

Shaking that thought she she surveyed the damage around her and knew that it would take ages to get it all straightened out. However, that was the least of her problems. "Anything broken? Cracked? Mutilated perhaps? Do you need help?" so it wasn't exactly an apology, but she at least she tried.

Celyn surveyed him, trying to see if there was something awkward like him leaning more to the side or something. Sure she wasn’t a healer or a muggle doctor, but her father was and she had picked up enough to at least notice these things.[/blockquote]

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare's lips curved into a crooked smile at the girl's motherly-but-humorous inquiries, not to mention the thorough way she was looking at him. "I don't know about our stuff, but the only thing I mutilated is my pride," he teased. He shifted his weight, wincing slightly as he silently amended what he'd said. His knee felt a little out of whack, but it wasn't anything that wouldn't heal on its own. He just wouldn't be sprinting up and down stairs until the kinks got worked out.

"What about you? Did I crush anything?" He spent so much time with Michael now that girls felt even more delicate than they had back when he'd been dating them. He was partly kidding and she didn't look like she was in pain, but he figured he ought to make sure.

[Celyn Corvus]

“In that case, you never fell; you gracefully collided with the ground.” it was the same thing, but it just made the situation sound less accidental. Celyn was relieved he was fine, the last thing she wanted was to have to explain to the nurse about the circumstance and she could anticipate the long lecture that would follow about not leaving your things lying around. "I'm fine, nothing big. Although now I know I'm accident prone." under the same circumstance had the last person fallen, the only difference was that it was a girl and they were in the library.

Finally turning to look around she surveyed the damage. “In terms of crushed well…”

[/b] parchment, papers and books scattered the ground. It would take ages to sort it all out and the best they could do was distinguish between what belonged to who.

Turning to look back at him she grinned sheepishly and extended a hand. “Since I’ve probably made your life that much harder, not that I’m assuming it is hard, but I might as well introduce myself. I’m Celyn Corvus.” it would be a refreshing change to get to know someone and so far the bridges she had built had been burned halfway through hopefully this wouldn’t end the same way.[/blockquote]

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Dare Blackwood-Hardt," Dare said, his hand nearly swallowing her smaller one. His name still sounded like a mouthful, but at least he hadn't forgotten for a while now. He no longer had to tack Hardt onto the end when he forgot.

"So what were you doing?" he asked, releasing Celyn's hand. What had he interrupted? He looked out over the mess now, at the quills and papers, the books and who knew what else that filled a generous area of the floor. There was a Potions book, but whose was it? There was his sketchbook... No... His eyes focused on his brother's face, something he knew he hadn't drawn in his current sketchbook, and his brows drew slightly together. "Is that yours?" he asked, forgetting his last question entirely.

[Celyn Corvus]

“Pleasure to meet you Dare.”

[/b]The look of recognition that crossed Celyn’s face was gone instantly. Only a fool wouldn’t have heard of him, he had been the talk of everyone for months. However, it didn’t bother her in the least.

Celyn was sidetracked by his question and was about to answer until his next one came out. She followed his gaze only to land on her sketchbook. Looking at the drawing she mentally scowled, it was like everything around her was taunting her because of her own stupidity. “Yeah I guess… why?”[/b] his tone was slightly different and she couldn’t figure out what it was. She avoided stepping on the books and leaned down to pick it up. She looked a moment longer at the drawing, but she couldn’t bring herself to flip it closed standing up she finally turned away from the drawing to look at Dare.[/blockquote]

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

Dare had a fleeting thought about his brother getting around, but since he neither read the Daily Prophet nor hung out in the Common Room it had little meaning behind it. Still, it never ceased to surprise him how much girls liked Silver at this school. He'd been in the shadows at SWIM, but apparently British girls had different taste than Americans.

"If that's Silver, he's my brother," Dare answered. If it wasn't Silver, it was a damned close resemblance. He didn't know Celyn to make any guesses as to the reasoning behind that portrait, but in his own experience it didn't mean much more than an interesting face. Still, she'd caught him smiling.

[Celyn Corvus]

Celyn kept her face casual and she smiled brightly, so this was the other artist. Silver had only mentioned him once, but the thought stuck to her mind one of the minor details she could actually recall from before the kiss. "I thought I recognized those eyes." there was still a difference and even by the way Dare spoke it was obvious as to who was outgoing and who was more shy.

Finally flipping her sketchbook closed she brought it to her chest protectively. “Only talked to him on a few occasions, he’s a nice guy.”

[/b] She shrugged, she spoke as if Silver was just an acquaintance, and yet she had him drawn on her sketchbook. Would he assume that she was only friends with his brother or would he somehow figure that it was more? There was no implication of there being more and personally she believed she had thoroughly destroyed any chances. Besides, Willow suited him more than she could and that was a fact she was dealing with quite well.[/blockquote]

[Dare Blackwood-Hardt]

"Yeah, he is," Dare agreed, watching Celyn as he thought about what she'd said. She was being pretty protective over that picture for someone who'd only drawn an interesting face. It was the protectiveness that tipped him off, not the detail of the drawing. He'd done detailed drawings of strangers when he'd found them interesting. Of course, he reminded himself, not everyone was as comfortable sharing their work as he was.

He opted not to say anything and let the girl have her illusion of secrecy, but didn't put any effort into clearing the thoughts from his eyes. "So, I guess we ought to get this stuff cleaned up," he said, dragging his gaze away from Celyn's sketchbook to the mess on the floor. "I'd ask if you always draw in narrow halls, but I guess you could ask if I ever watch where I'm going, so I'll sidestep that trap." His lips quirked lightly with the attempt at humor, and he squatted to pick up a book, opening the cover to see if he could tell whose it was. "Were you drawing?" He hadn't really seen her before he'd fallen.

[Celyn Corvus]

Her mind trailed away from Silver, why think about something -or someone- that had only interrupted the easy going life she had for herself.

The teasing remark had her grinning fairly amused. "Wise choice my friend wise choice!" her singsong voice slightly echoed down the hall only making her statement seem more childish than 'grown up'.

Celyn squatted down as well, opening the cover of a Muggle Studies text book and recognizing her calligraphy she put it to the side where it was away from the mess then continued on her hunt. Her hand paused over another sketchbook which was awkwardly placed face down on the ground. She gingerly picked it up and handed it over to him, making sure not to look inside. Some didn't like others looking at their artwork. "Well I was trying to draw. But it's very difficult when a guy about six foot tall comes crashing down on you. But yes, I was somewhat drawing." she looked up from the books to flash him a friendly smile.

She nodded her head to his sketchbook. "Were you going to draw?" she asked, she wasn't sure if he had been holding it prior to the collision, or if it was just in his bag, but she was curious.