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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 7, 2013 23:50:43 GMT -5
"It's safe," Michael said, looking over at Skylar. "Professors kind of stay for a while and students are students. As long as the Prophet stays quiet the students don't know much we don't want them to know." There was that magazine, but it didn't have the dreaded gossip column like the newspaper did, and it was the gossip column that caused issues. "Essentially the only issue with safety we've had was a girl who came and went after Dare to get at me, but she was locked away and that was years ago."
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 7, 2013 23:57:05 GMT -5
Any relief Skylar might have been feeling disappeared at that, and he was all business again. That was exactly what he was afraid of, someone getting in and coming after his daughter. It was only through force of will that he didn't catch her up in his arms again. The fact that she was locked up meant nothing, because there were always more.
"How'd she get in?" Skylar asked.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 11:19:07 GMT -5
"She enrolled as a student. She is, ah, the younger sister of the girl who died when I joined," Michael said. "Dare was still a student and we lived in Diagon Alley at the time. She wanted revenge." He didn't blame her, to be honest, but that didn't mean he forgave her at all for what she'd done to Dare. The incident had caused issues that still popped up every now and again.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 8, 2013 12:38:27 GMT -5
"What was that name?" Skylar asked. It had sounded like dare, and since Skylar didn't know of anyone young enough to enroll at Hogwarts just to get at him, he let himself be distracted. "That's the... uh... husband?" And they had kids. Maybe that was the catch to being so safe, being surrounded by oddballs.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 12:46:48 GMT -5
Michael nodded. "Dare, it's short for Alasdair, he's a Blackwood. Him, his brother, and his father moved here a few years ago and we hit it off more or less immediately. He teaches Transfiguration." It had been a while since there had been anyone who had issues with his relationship and he thought little of talking about it anymore.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 8, 2013 13:02:46 GMT -5
"No sh~," Skylar said, completely thrown by that. Alasdair was the old one, but if there was a brother and father involved, then it was a different Alasdair, one he didn't know. He caught his swear too late, but Ember didn't seem to have noticed. She was busy with Dog. "I thought I knew all the Blackwoods."
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 13:14:31 GMT -5
"Dare's father married an American muggle woman. Well, squib, but no one knew that until recently. They lived out in California until she died, then they moved back here," Michael said. He was thankful that there hadn't been any retaliation from the Blackwoods over their choice of name for Alistair. "We combined names, so we're Blackwood-Hardt, it usually doesn't cause problems." It was probably a good idea for Skylar to know his coworkers' names.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 8, 2013 13:23:18 GMT -5
Skylar was still trying to keep up with things. "So who's his father? I know some of Evan's kids, and I've met Alasdair, that's the old guy, and his wife, but I thought that was all of them." If the guy had married an American Muggle it made sense that he'd never heard of the man. Even turning out a squib wasn't that great, but it was a whole lot better.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 13:31:49 GMT -5
"Adair," Michael said. "I think he moved back in hopes of reconnecting with the family." It was one of the reasons the man had been so unhappy about the relationship. At times he wished he knew more about the state of Blackwood family affairs, but mostly he was perfectly happy not thinking about the group and focusing on his life.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 8, 2013 13:37:35 GMT -5
"And who's Adair's father?" Skylar asked. He glanced down at Ember and realized, maybe for the first time, that she'd never be involved in Society stuff, no matter how he prepared her for it. She'd never have a coming-out, and he'd never make deals with other fathers to find her the best husband possible. He was out of all that for good, and here he was asking as though it was important.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 13:50:54 GMT -5
"Alasdair," Michael said. "I believe the Evan you mentioned is his brother, twins run in the family." That would have been nice to know before their own set of twins were born. He fell into silence as he considered. When he had first discovered Dare's heritage, it had presented an entirely new set of possible problems.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 8, 2013 13:55:06 GMT -5
Skylar nodded. He hadn't known that, but it made sense. The other, Adair, would have left before he was born, or at least before he'd remember anything, and no one would have talked about him after. "So they're all written off," he said. "And your father disowned you a couple times?" And tried to kill them. Skylar wasn't shocked over that, though he was certainly glad that Michael had lived, all things considered.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 14:14:07 GMT -5
"Yes, but things are never easy when it comes to this. My mother accepts us, we have her blessing even, and I'm in her will. Dare's side is...complicated." It was a lot of things Michael hadn't thought about recently. Skylar didn't need to be dumped with all of the information. He shifted the leash around his wrist and in his hand for a more comfortable grip.
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Post by Skylar Constantine on Jun 8, 2013 14:17:34 GMT -5
"I bet," Skylar said. "The Blackwoods are a little... well, not to say anything about your husband, but they're a little crazy." He knew intimately just how crazy Lisette was, though it had been the oldest one he'd been into. The rest of them were all too young.
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Post by Michael Blackwood-Hardt on Jun 8, 2013 14:24:01 GMT -5
Michael chuckled at that. "We're both a little crazy," he said. Multiple kinds of therapy were proof and with almost yearly life crises he thought they had managed to remain impressively mentally stable. "As long as the Blackwoods stay away from us, they can be as crazy as they like."
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