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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 19, 2012 21:17:42 GMT -5
"Yes," Rhys said. "I'd prefer not to talk about what happened. But...I'm 23 and I'm still dealing with it all, and it honestly took me a while to really get back into the God thing." It had started with scouring a Bible he'd never truly understood. Even now it was filled with yellowed bulletins and inspirational bookmarks, though those were accompanied by colored pencil highlights.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 19, 2012 21:26:19 GMT -5
Dare nodded. "Yeah, that's fine," he said. He wouldn't press Rhys into talking about any of that, especially with everything he knew could go wrong. Michael's father had attempted to murder the both of them when he'd found out.
Dare resumed bouncing when Lestat's displeased cry told him he'd stopped, and he put those thoughts aside, forcing an optimistic smile. "It's pretty good around here," he said. "London doesn't really care and Diagon Alley had me and Michael around for a while. The wizarding world's more uptight about it than Muggles, but especially in Hogsmeade, around the school, the Headmistress is a big supporter. She's great, so there's a lot that's gotten better in just the past few years."
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 19, 2012 21:30:19 GMT -5
"That's good, I was honestly kind of more worried about being a muggle here, it's so weird calling myself that," Rhys said, smiling. "I mean, I can't even get in here without Matthew. What did you and Michael do here?" As far as he had known, Dare and Michael had only been teachers. It was...interesting to be hanging out with a teacher.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 19, 2012 21:35:45 GMT -5
Dare chuckled. The Muggle thing had slipped his mind for the moment, though he hadn't really forgotten. Not after that trip out together. "Michael owned the pet shop," he replied. "The Daily Prophet outed us, and it was bad for a while, neither of us could sleep in the dorms, and after a while we just moved out here together. Michael wanted to work at Hogwarts, but he had to wait until I graduated before he could. We moved back to school when he decided he wanted kids."
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 19, 2012 21:39:57 GMT -5
Michael owned. Michael wanted to work. Michael wanted kids. Rhys looked at Dare curiously at that, though he didn't feel like it was his place to ask and so kept his silence. "So are the kids his, then? I mean, you got a surrogate?" He knew couples that had adopted, but it did seem that most opted for surrogates.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 19, 2012 21:48:54 GMT -5
"No, they're ours," Dare said. "We didn't want to have kids that belonged to just one of us, and we found some really rare magic I don't think anyone even knows about anymore. See, they've got Michael's hair, they've got his face shape, but they've got my eyes." The blue was fading, and the ring around the pupil, the sparks that came out from the center, were visible. "The Healer at the school found it for us. It was crazy, it happened so fast." He paused. "I guess everyone knows now, but no one believes it; Michael was pregnant. Carried them around for almost eight months."
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 19, 2012 21:52:35 GMT -5
Rhys stared for a moment, as though if he waited the words would change in his mind into something that made sense. "Wait what?" he asked. "You've got to be kidding." Any thoughts he shouldn't have been having about Dare's relationship promptly flew from his head. "That's just...not possible." Even with magic it couldn't be possible.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 19, 2012 22:01:10 GMT -5
"Look at them. It's possible," Dare said. "He's the last male of a Pureblood line, and it took both of us making a complicated potion, took a wand that was specially made for us, or it couldn't have happened." Dare glanced toward the windows to be sure no one was in direct sight, then set Lestat back in the stroller to draw his wand.
Matthew might not be a show-off, but he was, and he'd seen more than a couple Muggle-born first years who were stunned by basic magic. Plus, the twins got a kick out of it. He'd just transfigure one of the twins' toys into a rabbit or something. It didn't even occur to him that resizing the diaper bag would be at all impressive.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 19, 2012 22:18:50 GMT -5
Rhys stared at Dare, then at the baby he held in his own lap. Maybe he could see bits of Dare in the kid, but...but that didn't mean...that couldn't mean... And then Dare had just made that bag bigger like it was nothing. Assimilating into the magical world was likely going to be much harder than he thought it would be.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 19, 2012 22:39:30 GMT -5
Dare looked aside at Rhys, and the stunned expression on his face was enough to pre-empt any Transfiguration tricks. Instead, he pulled out a cool teething ring and offered it to Lestat the way it was. "You okay?" he asked Rhys. Even with the Muggle-born kids in his classes he hadn't seen this level of surprise. But then, they'd had some experience with uncontrolled magic growing up.
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Post by Matthew Moreau on Mar 19, 2012 22:49:11 GMT -5
Matthew had been watching, hidden in an alcove near the stairs in the back, and he grinned at the speechless Rhys. "Dare what are you doing, dumbfounding my boyfriend like that?" he teased as he came up behind Rhys. "I've been doing it slow because he kind of shuts down sometimes. He still tries to figure out how everything works." He bent and pressed a kiss to Rhys' cheek.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 19, 2012 22:50:59 GMT -5
"Hey, don't pick on me," Rhys said, jerked out of his surprise at Matthew's appearance. "Seriously, guys, I grew up with a minister for a dad and now all of the sudden I'm dating a wizard and there's a whole other world?" It was a lot to take in. Half the time he thought he was going to wake up from a dream and it would be sometime before Christmas.
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Post by Dare Blackwood-Hardt on Mar 19, 2012 23:13:03 GMT -5
Dare's lips curved, and he looked up at Matthew. "You sure bringing him here was such a good idea?" he asked. Lestat had rejected the teether, and Dare bent to retrieve it from the floor, giving it a quick cleaning charm. "The twins aren't doing magic yet, so you're not the only one in the room. Here, watch this." He held out the teething ring, which was clear with friendly pictures of pointed hats and cauldrons on each squishy nub. "Pick a color." He pointed his wand at the toy. It was a little trick, but it wasn't so shocking, and the twins loved it. He withheld that information.
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Post by Matthew Moreau on Mar 20, 2012 15:57:06 GMT -5
Matthew liked bringing Rhys into Diagon Alley, and they had come a few times since meeting up with Dare and Keith. Rhys seemed less shocked by magical items than he was by active magic being performed by someone he knew, though. He eyed the kid on Rhys' lap and pulled up a chair of his own, resting one arm along the back of Rhys'. "I'm just teasing, Rhys," he said softly.
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Post by Rhys Moreau on Mar 20, 2012 15:58:47 GMT -5
Rhys rolled his eyes at Matthew and spouted out the first color that came to mind. "Red." Yes, he knew it must be strange for him to be reacting like he was, but could they really blame him? "And I'm not as bad as Matthew is when I show him the telly or my computer," he argued.
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