A Dangerous Game {Tag: Jasper}

Miranda sat curled on one of the armchairs in the staff room, a small book in her hands. A small cat was sleeping next to her and she stroked it absent-mindedly. The sun shone brightly through the window beside her, giving her the perfect amount of light, and illuminating her surroundings. She was glad just for the time to breathe and relax for a bit. She had spent more time than usual surrounded by people. And she had longed for such solitude all day long. With a soft sigh, she sank onto the soft cushions and immersed herself within the pages of her book.

After many rather intolerable hours of dealing with students, Jasper decided to take his break and promptly hide away from the little buggers in the Staff's Room. He expected a nice glass of firewhiskey, or maybe even some strong tea, anything to sooth his nerves, anything would do, even a glass of butter beer. But what he found was even better than any alcohol or drink could possibly provide; one Miranda Melgrove. His lips tugged into a smirk as his eyes narrowed into focus. He wasn't sure if she remembered him, they had met a few times before [and went to school unless again, unless I'm mistaken.] and he had a dark piece of her history that the two would never forget.

"Hello Miranda."

He said in a low voice before strolling over and taking the seat beside her. Jasper noticed the cat, scoffing quietly as he leaned back into the chair. Figures the Care of Magical Creatures Professor would even have cats at her beckon call.

"How have you been?"

Miranda glanced up as a man around her own age entered the room.

"Jasper!" she said, pleasantly surprised. "It's good to see you!"

To be honest, she was surprised he recognized her. They might have been in the same year at Hogwarts growing up, but she had kept to herself. She might have noticed everyone and everything, but no one noticed her. Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had a few classes together, so they had interacted minimally on those occasions. She smiled warmly over at him as he sat down.

"It's been some time. I am doing well," she said with that same smile. "And yourself?"

Jasper pressed his back against the length of the chair, his leg folded his other as he stared over here. His marine eyes traced over her figure a time or two before meeting her own blue ones. Her response was quite pleasant and to be honest he wasn't expecting it. . . not many people ever seemed that happy to see him. Jasper knew that she was unaware of his actions, and it caused a smirk to grace his features. He leaned his head on his hand as he stared at her, trying to recall their history while in school, he could remember her distinctively, and it seemed she hadn't changed much.

"It has, hasn't it? I thought that was you at the Staff Party."

He replied quietly, yet strongly his voice holding a bit of warmth in it as if he was actually happy to see her after so long . . . but it wasn't as if he wasn't happy to see her. The professor kept his eyes on the blonde for a moment before he shrugged subtly.

"I'm alive, guess I can't complain too much."

Miranda shifted slightly as he eyed her up and down, but still managed to maintain her smile. She was onewho never ceased to be warm and welcoming, no matter how strenuous her own day had been. It was something that defined her as...well...Miranda. She raised her eyebrow curiously at the smirk. Had she done something amusing? She always had been terribly self-conscious of her actions in public. It was an old habit, probably, from being such an outcast in her school days. And she wasn't exactly much more popular here as a teacher either. Most people avoided her. But she had to admit to herself, she WAS a bit odd. Her eyebrows shot up at his comment about the staff party.

"I am surprised you took any notice. I was only there for a moment. before you left!" She paused for a moment. "I am glad nothing too crazy happened at that ball. It could have gone far worse, don't you think?"

She was talking quite amiably, her legs still tucked beneath her as she lay curled on the cushy armchair. She kept stroking the cat with her free hand, almost without thinking. It was odd, really, talking to him so easily. There had always been something...different...about Jasper Alexander. Nothing she could identify, but well they just didn't talk much growing up. And when she left school? Well, after Tony, she didn't really talk to anyone.

"I'm alive, guess I can't complain too much."

She rolled her eyes, still wearing that shining smile.
"Oh come now! There's more to you than just being alive! Even I know that! You've got your sister around don't you? What was her name again? And you're teaching here! It's the chance of a lifetime!" She paused thoughtfully. "How DID you end up here, Jasper?"

Jasper kept his eyes on Miranda, noticing the movements and sheer look in her eyes, he remembered it from when they were younger. It was unsure, hidden, and curious, much like many of Jasper’s targets, he would leave her questioning his actions even long after they had finished talking. Apparently by noticing her at the Staff Party, he had already done something to put him in the good favor. He remembered when they were younger, and it was true, she was a rather lone and forgettable person. In fact, it wouldn’t be until many years later that he’d remember who she was.
“Why ever wouldn’t I have noticed Miranda? You are the only familiar face that I could see in the room.”

He asked with a tilt of his head, his green hues remaining glued on her for analyzing purposes. It wasn’t false, but he did hint at a more . . . dare he say, excitement that he had seen her; and strangely enough, he kind of was. When she mentioned the ball and the lack of drama that came from it he had to nod, he wasn’t even at the ball, he couldn’t be bothered with it. Nothing like a bunch of teenagers dry humping each other while sipping away at secretly spiked punch, before making bastards and other wrong choices only to wake up making love to the toilet bowl and vomiting everything but their memories.

“Yes, I’d have to say that the events that followed were plenty dramatic enough to make up for the ball.”

Jasper said blandly, not wanting to bring it up and actually kicking himself for doing so, his ego couldn’t take another blow like that. When she rolled her eyes he was surprised, the motion didn’t seem very fitting, and yet there was that smile still on her features that made it almost adorable as she attempted. He sat back in his chair as she went off on her little tangent of questions.

“Yes, my sister, Angela, does attend the school now. . .”

He trailed off, what was with people questioning his reason for teaching, was it really so surprising? Jasper rolled his own eyes, shaking his head a bit.

“Just trying to find what I want to do with my life, I was already told I capture an audience, so I figured, why not? What brings you to teaching here Miranda?”

Miranda smiled broader, and she bit her lip thoughtfully.

"Hmm... Well, Belle was in our year! Though I think she was the only other one at the staff party. I'm surprised you didn't recognize her."

Miranda simply couldn't get over the fact that Jasper had noticed her. Jasper had been a quidditch keeper. He had seemed quite friendly. She had remembered him being very determined and focused in classes. And...very handsome. And no one could say he had lost his good looks since leaving school. She brushed her blonde hair from her face shyly as she realized where her thought had taken her. But all emotion vanished from her face in an instant as he mentioned, even briefly, the events of the past few days. Memories of torturing the pixies and of Lilo's covered body flashed through her mind. Her hands clenched into fists. Taking a deep breath, she forcibly relaxed her breath.

"At least we got most of it under control. And hopefully, with the ministry involved, we will be able to prevent it from happening again."

She breathed deeply, calming herself as Jasper kept talking. When he mentioned that his sister WAS a student now, her usual smile returned to her face.

"It's so great that you get to be near her," she said warmly. "At least she knows she can count on you. I'm sure she was so frightened when the castle went through all of that chaos. Did she get hurt at all? I didn't see her come through the hospital wing so I suppose that' a good thing." She nodded. "Yes, I remember that about you. You never failed to get people's attention." Her eyes twinkled merrily.

"What brings you to teaching here Miranda?”

She sighed. But she had been teaching long enough to be able to answer the question without revealing exactly how she had ended up at Hogwarts. "Well, I don't know if you remember but I've kind of always loved taking care of animals." She wasn't exactly sure how much Jasper remembered of her from their school days. "I would spend any free time out in the forest, much to the gameskeeper's annoyance!" she grinned mischievously. "Anyways, when I left school I got a job in the muggle world as a sort of....muggle animal healer." During which time she had become reaquainted with Tony.... "Well, one thing led to another, and Dumbledore brought me to Hogwarts as the Care of Magical creatures teacher! Which, really, is like a dream come true."