Target Practice {Tag. Miranda Melgrove}

Dean stood at the edge of the Forbidden Forest and aimed a rifle at a tree that was partially hidden by shadows. The rifle itself wasn't that old and Dean wanted to make sure that they were all working properly before he showed then to the students. The rifle let out a satisfying noise as he pulled the trigger, the recoil forcing him to take a small step back.

Miranda carefully stroked the unicorn's silk-like fur as he nudged her arm with his nose playfully. With a soft giggle, she pulled a fresh apple from under her robes and offered it to him. Of course, once she had pulled out one piece of food, all of the other nearby creatures were immediately at her feet. Laughing, she pulled some nuts from her apron and sprinkled them on the floor for the squirrels and chipmunks, and scattered some seeds in a different area for the smaller birds. The air was quiet in the forbidden forest. It usually was as so few chose to venture into its depths. At first she had been afraid, but she now had enough animal friends here that she no longer feared the forest....as much. She allowed the peaceful music of the animal chatter to envelop her.

A large bang cut through the peaceful air in a single moment. Instantly, the creatures scattered. The Unicorn bounded off into the depths of the dark trees, clearly spooked. She had ducked at the sound and now spun around to find its source. She crept carefully to the edge of the forest, frightened animals trailing her in the trees. Her eyes found....Dean? He stood at the edge of the forest holding some sort of metal contraption. A muggle weapon if she remembered correctly. He pointed it into the trees and the sound echoed through the silence again. Birds took flight from the trees they had been resting in. While normally, extremely soft spoken and calm, Miranda's temper flared and her eyes narrowed dangerously. She stormed up to the new professor.

"What in blazes do you think you are doing?!" She shouted at him. "Do you realize how many living things are in this forest?! You could hurt one of them. You're certainly scaring them enough! You can't just wander about doing what you please out here!"

Dean jumped at the shout and swung the gun around instinctively to face the intruder. He blinked when he saw who it was, 'Damn,' he thought, 'I've been trying to avoid her.' The last time he had seen Miranda had been at the funeral, to say that it was awkward between them after that was a drastic understatement.

"Damn woman! I could have shot you what were you thinking," Dean scolded, "I mean they're just blanks but they still can hurt like a bitch."

To be honest he hadn't really thought about the animals in the forest, he figured most of them were smart enough to run away from the sound.

((Sorry for the long wait, It was one of those long days that made me want to kill something....So I played Assassin's Creed 2 Until I beat the damn thing instead of logging on....))

Miranda scoffed. "You REALLY think you could have hurt me with that...." She waved her arm in the air wildly. "that muggle contraption!?" Her eyes were ablaze with fury. "Do you REALIZE how many creatures live even on the end of the forest?! That sound could deafen them! If those...those" She tried to remember the word he had used. "Blanks don't hit them! You can't even see most of them! How could you be so careless...so thoughtless!"

Her hands were folded across her chest. Seeing him brought back memories, such painful memories. She was glad she had her anger to hide behind at the moment. She had lasted four years without completely dealing with her grief. And she wasn't about to break in front of Dean of all people.

{No problem! Life gets crazy sometimes and I totally understand!}

"Well gee, forgive me for shooting at a tree," Dean drawled in annoyance, "Would you prefer I aim at the students?"

And this was why Dean had chosen to try and avoid her, without Tony they were like oil and water...they just couldn't get along, even if they tried.

He cocked the gun and prepared to fire it again, whether it was to actually continue with his quality control test, or just to annoy her, he wasn't sure.

Miranda fumed, her face glowing with color as he raised the gun again.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" She shouted, pointing her wand at the metal contraption. It leapt into the air, just out of Dean's reach.
"It's not just a tree, you fool. It's just as alive as you, me, or any of the students!"

She stepped just a bit closer to him and said in a low voice, "And there are several creatures in here that you DON'T want to upset..."

She had never truly gotten along with Dean, though she had tried. Oh had she tried. He had been an important part of Tony's life after all. But her light, carefree nature had never quite meshed with his down to earth, solid approach. With Tony gone, they had mutually agreed to go their separate ways. She had retreated into her black hole of grief. And he...he had returned to the muggle world he loved.

Dean rolled his eyes, "For crying out loud, you act like I was actually trying to hurt someone," he grumbled, "I was testing it so that I knew it wasn't gonna blow up in some poor kids face when I showed it to them."

He had honestly, only intended to shoot the thing twice. Dean grumbled and stared up at the weapon, "Can ya give it back now? I promise not to shoot it again."

She narrowed her eyes. "With this forest, there's always a danger of hurting something. I don't even know all of the creatures who live in here." She gestured vaguely at the nearest tree. Scared black orbs poked out from between the leaves of the branches. "The animals who live here have a right to feel safe."

"Can ya give it back now? I promise not to shoot it again."

With a sigh, she waved her wand again, and the metal thing gently floated back into his hands. "There's an empty stretch of grass just around the corner there." She conceded wearily. "You can go shoot whatever that thing is over there. Hardly any of them leave the shelter of the trees anways."

"It's a gun," Dean states incredulously, "I can't believe you walk around the muggle world not knowing what this is! Someone could have put a bullet through your head!"

He wanted to beat his head into a wall, people raised in magical households could sometimes lack the common sense that god gave a gnat.

"Nevermind," he muttered shaking his head, "I was just about done here anyway."

She rolled her eyes. "Like any muggle could do any real harm to a witch." she scoffed. She decided not to point out that her "muggle education" was mostly from him and if he had failed to mention a gun, that was his fault.
Of all the people to fill the empty position this year, why did it have to be HIM? She had been perfectly happy here, without added memories of...of Tony. Her face relaxed slightly as a flash of sorrow creased her features. She looked away hurriedly and glided slowly to the nearest cropping of trees. She extended a single hand towards a low branch.
"It's alright now, come here little fella,"
The furry head of a chipmunk appeared from within the branches and leapt onto her arm.
"Just be more careful from now on. Witches and Wizards aren't the only creatures who live on these grounds." She called over her shoulder.
Just leave... She thought. Please Just leave.

Dean's eye narrowed, "Okay first of all, it takes less than half a second to shoot a gun, unless you can speed speak there is no way you could get your wand out and cast a spell before that bullet imbeds itself into your skull."

He took a breath preparing to continue his tirade, "Just because a person has magic doesn't make them invincible, you should know that better than anyone. And if your animals had any brains in their heads they would avoid the noise, they've got an entire fucking forest!"

Dean huffed angrily, he rarely lost his temper, Miranda was just the unlucky soul who brought it out. There had been several instances where Tony had to stop him from chucking a wrench at the blonde's head.

{teehee They're really not gonna like each other...}

"Just because a person has magic doesn't make them invincible, you should know that better than anyone
Her entire body when rigid, and it felt as if her blood had run cold. She fought back tears and spun around angrily to face him. Everything in her being wanted to curse him and leave him to the dark creatures of the forest to take care of.

"How dare you, " she hissed. She sputtered, not finding strong enough words for this man who always managed to infuriate her. "These animals have got more brains than you, Dean." she snapped abruptly, trying to change the subject. "But it's my job to protect them from idiots like you who don't see that every life is precious and deserves to feel safe in their home!"

She hadn't been able to return to Tony's house, the house they had intended to share, since that day. She just couldn't bring herself to do it.
"I protect them, because I know that wizards kill."

Dean winced internally, he hated making people cry, even if it was Miranda, and he could see the tears fighting their way out. Admittedly, that comment wasnt as tactful as it could have been.

He groaned and leaned on the weapon, "Look, I'm sorry, that didn't come out right," he sighed and suffered his feet, "I miss him too you know, he was my friend after all."

damn it , Miranda, she thought to her self, frustrated. Of all the people to lose it in front of, it had to be Dean, not even Sitka, her closest friend since her 2nd year had never seen her cry.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead tiredly. "We never could get along could we? Not even for his sake."

"Nope," Dean shook his head, "But I think it entertained him more often than not."

He had caught Tony laughing at them while they bickered more than a few times. It made Dean wonder why, even knowing they got along as well as cats and dogs, Tony had been so insistant that they at least try to be friends.

It didn't work, it hadnt then, and it clearly wasn't now....

((and with that it is bed time pour moi ))

A weak smile twisted her lips. "That it did." She hadn't talked about Tony since the day, Dumbledore had pulled her out of her isolation. No one at Hogwarts knew, except for Sitka and Neige. But they were her oldest friends. She was content being the quiet, unobtrusive professor. She didn't want to open the doors to her past. Doors that apparently opened just by seeing connections to...him.

He had often joked about their strained relationship, playfully teasing that the day they got along was the day that unicorns flew.

They stood in awkward silence for a minute. "I suppose we'll have to find some way to get on....now that we're working together."

"I suppose we'll have to," he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, glancing at the sky for the unicorn that should be flying by at any minute...perhaps he should be looking for flying pigs instead.

"Oh, by the way, Tony left something for you at the shop," he started hesitantly, "I found it a few days after the funeral and by then I had no idea where you had gone."

Tony had always been the more creative one between the two of them, so it didn't surprise him when he found the latest project sitting on Tony's desk when he was forced to clean out the office.

Miranda froze. She stared at him eyes blinking slowly.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me..." she hissed. She placed a delicate hand to her mouth and turned away, walking towards the forest. Another hand wrapped around her stomach which suddenly clenched uncomfortably. She breathed heavily, staring into the dark depths of the trees. She had trapped all of her emotions behind a tight wall......aanndd maybe completely avoided thinking about it unless she was alone in her room. She did everything possible to hide from the pain. But it seems that it had finally caught up with her.

She turned slowly back to him. "I can't do this, Dean." she whispered, then paused as she thought about the last part of his statement. "I got a small place in London, not far from Diagon Alley," she murmurred.

But she desperately wanted this last part of Tony. Didn't she?

Dean raised an eyebrow at her reaction, it was a bit over the top and he couldn't understand why she had reacted so violently.

"That's nice," he said slowly when she mentioned her residence, "Do you want it? I can have it sent up?"

The trinket was small so it wouldn't be that hard to ship up to Hogwarts and he could always have it sent straight to her so that he could avoid the post owl.

((At the theatre to see Brave, you'll have to forgive me if I don't reply until after midnight ))

{totally cool. I'm going to be out of town all day tomorrow, so I may not reply till sunday morning}

She bit her lip and grinned wryly. "I must look like a complete idiot huh? You'd think I'd be ecstatic to get something from my dead fiance." She laughed humorlessly. Then paused. "That would be really great if you could do that, Dean. Thank you."

They stared awkwardly into separate directions again, allowing the odd silence to hang between them.
"Soo...what have you been up to the past five years?" she asked uncertainly.

"Same old stuff I suppose," he shrugged nonchalantly, his life hadn't changed much since Tony's death. Except for the fact that he sold the shop they had opened together and returned to his father's to help with the workload.

"I've just been helping my dad out with his shop."

She raised an eyebrow. "You've been working in your father's shop? I thought by now you'd have your own."

She had always thought him to be ambitious. But she supposed he was now a professor and he wouldn't have time for his own anyways.

"Well, Dad is getting old and he needs the help. And when he retires the shop will be mine anyway," It wasnt exactly what he had dreamt of when he was younger, he loved cars but working on mundane everyday vehicles wasn't the same as what they had planned. In their seventh year he and Tony had pooled their savings and planned on opening a shop that catered to motorcross and other racing vehicles. But that ambition had died when Tony did, Dean just couldnt do it by himself.

"It's not perfect," he shrugged, "But it pays the bills. I assume that you've been working here since then huh?"

Miranda nodded as she listened. "Well, at least when you get sick of teaching you have something to do. Honestly, I was surprised you took the position."

I assume that you've been working here since then huh?"

She held her arms to herself, uncomfortably. She was actually a little embarrassed now. Dean it seemed had been able to get on with his life after.
"I've only been here for the last four years. Before that..." she shrugged. "Dumbledore came to my parent's house after the first two years and asked me to take the position." Smiling slightly she continued, "Best thing that could have happened to me afterwards."

Dean smiled, "He'd be thrilled that you found something you enjoy doing."

Having been in the position of best friend Dean had heard Tony brag and swoon over the woman on countless occasions, and he knew that Tony had been worried that after they married Miranda wouldn't be happy living in the muggle world. Dean hadn't known what to say at the time, but now he wondered if Tony had been right, Miranda had always been much more awkward in the muggle world than she was here.

He shuffled his feet nervously as the conversation began to lull.