Well this isn't going to be awkward at all.... {TAG: Belle and Dean}

After seeing the kittens back into the castle with their mother, Miranda and Belle headed down to the Three Broomsticks, chatting all the way, about everything from childhood hobbies to the brutality of N.E.W.T's. The tinkle of a small bell preceded their entrance into the shop. Miranda walked up to the counter and ordered a butterbeer from the friendly older woman behind the bar. She glanced over at Belle.
"Did you want a butterbeer as well? Or something stronger?"

Belle actually felt a little giddy as she headed down to the Three Broomsticks with Miranda. It had been a while since she had spent a long amount of time with a gal pal. It seemed like most of her free time was spent with Evaine or Dean these days. She smiled as she entered the Three Broomsticks, remembering all the times she and her school friends had come down here, talking and laughing. "Oh, a butterbeer for me too," she said. She had always loved the drink, having practically become addicted to it during her teenage years.

Dean was panting and had a light sheen of sweat decorating his brow by the time he stepped into the Three Broomsticks. His 1960’s motorbike had arrived by owl that morning and he had gone down to pick it up, leaving his wand in his room, forgetting that the engine didn’t run and that he would have to push the hunk of metal up to the castle.

And to make matters worse it was a rather warm day for September and he was dressed in a back t-shirt and jeans, which made it so much warmer than it was.

He slumped onto a bar stool and leaned heavily on the worn bar top.

“Water please,” he muttered when the waitress walked over, the girl nodded and within seconds he had a tall glass of water with condensation dripping down the sides. Dean sighed happily and downed half the glass before reappearing for air.

Miranda smiled at her new found friend.
"two butter beers on me then."
She grinned handing the sickles to the woman who in turn slid two foaming cups in their direction. For the first time in a long time she was genuinely happy. It was a beautifully warm day and Belle was in no way connected to her past and couldn't invoke painful memories.
They turned and sat at a table not far from the door chatting amiably. But as she glanced around the room, her face paled and her heart clenched painfully. Her back to the bar, belle didn't see dean slumped on the stool. Her voice trailedmoff and she hurriedly looked out the window reining in her whirling emotions.

"Oh, you don't have to..." But the woman behind the bar had already accepted Miranda's money. "Alright, you can treat me this time. Next time, I'll pay though. I say we stop by Honeydukes after this. I've been craving candy for weeks." She smiled as she and Miranda sat at a nearby table, just chatting about whatever came to mind. But Belle noticed when Miranda's face suddenly went pale and she stopped mid-sentence. "Miranda? What's wrong?" She turned around and she spotted Dean nearby. She didn't even think that he might be the reason Miranda suddenly went quiet. She just saw one of her oldest friends and instinctively called out to him. "Hey Dean!" she said cheerfully, waving.

Dean looked up when he heard his name being called. He looked around the pub until his eyes landed on Belle with…Miranda…

He flinched mentally, 'Great, just great.'

He smiled at Belle and gave a short wave back in response to her energetic greeting, then turned back to his water. Maybe if he could finish the glass fast enough he could avoid an awkward situation. Something, to be honest, he wasn’t sure he had the energy for.

Miranda quickly lifted the glass of butterbeer to her lips to avoid greeting Dean. While they had agreed that they would have to be civil, but that didn't mean she would have to like it. She was surprised at how friendly Belle seemed to be with Dean. She didn't think he got along with anybody. Her knuckles whitened on the cup handle as she set it down. While she hoped Belle would ignore Dean as he seemed to be attempting to do, she knew Belle better than that. She wouldn't let him get away with sitting by himself.
She pointedly looked out the window. She REALLY didn't feel like explaining that or how they knew each other.

Belle's brow furrowed. Sure, Dean could be withdrawn sometimes, but this was something a little new. Was there really something bad between him and Miranda or something? She had seemed a little tense when she had mentioned his name by the lake earlier. Hmm, maybe I can make things better between them, she thought, smiling as she came upon the idea. Of course, she had no idea why that idea was bad to begin with. She just walked up to Dean with a smile on her face. "Come on Dean, come sit with me and Miranda," she said, tugging on his arm a little. "Butterbeer tastes better when it's drunk with friends. Well, I guess it's water in your case, but you get my point." She grinned at him, trying to win him over.

"Belle," Dean started sitting up straighter in his seat, "I adore you, but there is no way, in any hell you can think of, that I will go and sit at that table."

He took a sip of his water, "And there is nothing you can do that will change my mind. Besides, I need to get my bike back to the castle, otherwise I'll still be lugging it come midnight."

The bike was a sad excuse, but it not like he hadn't already told her no, in his most blunt and honest way, but he knew her, Belle could never take no as an answer and that is what frightened him. And honestly, he would rather gouge out his eyes or complete some similarly painful task, anything really, anything other than sit in the awkward company that was Miranda Melgrove.

Miranda relaxed slightly in relief at Dean's protestations. He was a stubborn enough man. And he didn't want to be near her any more than she wanted to be near him. But...Belle could be pretty persuasive and that kind of scared her. She glanced at Dean, who also looked slightly wary of the young, but feisty woman.
"Just let him get that muggle contraption up to the castle, Belle," She called. "It's no bother."

"Jeez, from the way you describe it, you sound as if it has the Black Plague," Belle commented, pouting a little. "Haven't I told you about Miranda? I can't believe I didn't talk to her last year. She's so fun and thoughtful. And she adores the outdoors like I do." She grinned, despite the atmosphere getting heavier by the second. But if there was something Belle was good at, it was keeping a smile on her face, despite the situation being anything but sunshine and butterflies. "Plus, we were just talking about motorcycles earlier, right Miranda?" She turned her head around to smile at the blonde.

((Dear God Belle, get a clue will ya? *smacks* XD))

"I doubt that statement very much," he muttered, Belle had never shown any interest in muggle vehicles and Miranda's interest had died when Tony did, so the two girls discussing motorbikes was very hard to believe.

"Belle, why don't you just enjoy your girls' day out. I'm male, our only use is to hold shopping bags, and sorry, but that's never gonna happen."

He was trying he really was, he had drained the lag of his water and set ten coins on the counter for payment, and a tip for the waitress, and he was working on inconspicuously getting to his fet so he could make a dash for the door.

Miranda sighed, resigned to Belle's attempts.
"Yes, we did." she said softly. "Belle brought it up by talking about you, actually." She said by way of explanation.
She felt kind of bad that she was making this so hard for Belle. Maybe she should just leave and let the two of them chat. Belle was trying so hard. She rubbed her forehead with her hand.
"Damn it, Dean, just get over here will ya? Or do you want to alienate her as well?"
She locked her eyes with his steadily.

{baha! I love just how happy-go-lucky/oblivious she is!! }

Despite Dean still refusing her invitation to sit with them, Belle had to snicker a little at his comment. "Oh come on, you know that's not entirely true," she said, batting her eyes at him. "When we came here during our school days and went to Honeydukes, we usually ate everything we bought by the time we got back." She laughed. "Well, that was usually just me, but you get my point." This was always Belle's way: just smile, kick up some mindless chatter to try and ease the situation a bit. It was something she had learned to do when people asked about her cousin Tobias. Which was why she jumped a little at Miranda's less-than-civil invitation for Dean to sit with them. Well, maybe it could be considered civil if there was some serious bad blood between them. But Belle couldn't recall ever hearing Miranda curse before. Belle herself rarely did so, except when she occasionally stubbed her toe on something or got bitten by a plant. "Um, yeah. Sure. Let's go with that," she said, not sure what else to say at this point.

Dean’s eyes darted between the two women, and groaned in defeat, “I will not, under any circumstances, be roped into clothes shopping,” he muttered.

He pressed a hand against the small of Belle’s back and walked them both over to the table where Miranda was waiting. He was actually mildly surprised that it had been the blonde who had given into Belle first, he had always thought she had more will power than that. Her comment about alienation stung a little bit, despite the truth behind it.

Miranda sighed as the infuriating man sat at the table across from her. Her hands twisted nervously in her lap, as she watched the two of them.
Now what? she thought.
The tension in the air couldn't have been thicker, but Belle still had that smile on her face. Miranda couldn't help but loose a small smile in return. She would control herself, for Belle's sake if nothing else. Hopefully, the awkward encounter wouldn't last long and she could be on her way. Ooohh would she need some time with her creatuers tonight!!

"There, was that so hard?" Belle asked, a slight coo in her voice as she and Dean walked over. Of course, the atmosphere was still tense around the three of them, but Belle still had the naive hope that she could make things better. She was funny that way. "So Dean, how are the classes going?" she asked. "Are you still teaching the students Muggle sports? I hope you don't sprain your ankle again." She still remembered Dean stubbornly refusing to go to the Hospital Wing and taking care of his ankle himself, much to Belle's frustration. But at least it had healed alright. "Oh, Miranda, did I tell you that was the time that I actually made coffee without using any magic at all? Dean has this coffee maker in his room and I managed to make some coffee without blowing anything up. Knowing me, that's practically a miracle in itself." She smiled.

Dean winced slightly in pain at the memory, "No, no more sports for them, apparently they don't understand the concept of no contact."

He rolled his eyes as Belle chattered about having made coffee without magic, something most five year olds were doing in muggle homes.

"I told you, if I can get you cooking full meals without blowing up the oven then there is a reason to celebrate."

The tension was palatable, even with Belle's happy chatter, Dean leaned back slightly and shoved his hands in his pockets, pausing when his fingers met cool metal. He had forgotten that along with his bike Tony's last memento had also arrived.

He decided not to pull it out right then, it would probably cause more problems than necessary.

Miranda loosed a small smile. "Good for you, Belle. I tried learning a long time ago, but never quite got the hang of it."
Her eyes drooped slightly at the memory.
Tony, being Dean's closest friend, loved coffee of course. And he always said coffee made with magic never tasted quite right. She had tried to impress him by learning to brew coffee the muggle way and failed miserably. Luckily, Tony had found it cute and sweet.
She tried focusing on the conversation at hand.
"I was telling her earlier I would have to give her proper cooking lessons. It might take time and plenty of fire extinguishing, but we can get it done!"
She had been a marvelous cook from her childhood and always delighted in cooking for others. It was one of the things Tony said he loved about her. She gazed out the window, thoughts lost once again in the past.

Belle laughed. "True, you have said that before," she said to Dean. "You make it look so easy though. I'm surprised more people aren't envious of you." Belle had always marveled at how comfortable Dean was around Muggle contraptions, even here, when he was surrounded by magic all the time. "I can't wait for it. It's gonna be so much fun," she said enthusiastically, smiling at Miranda. Of course, learning to cook was good and all, but what she was looking forward to most was spending time with her friend. She always cherished times like that. She smiled again, feeling like things were finally calming down a bit between Miranda and Dean. Maybe things could actually be peaceful between them if she kept this up. It was worth a shot, after all.

Miranda’s smile was tense and then she was pointedly staring out the window. Dean shook his head slightly, it was mildly frustrating to see her still so lost in grief especially since he knew that Tony would hate to see her like that. But he wasn’t going to bring it up and it wasn’t his job to lecture her.

“Good luck with that,” he commented with a small grin at Belle, “Better her than me, I wouldn’t want you within ten feet of an oven at this point.”

He rolled his shoulders, his muscles were still a little weak from pushing the motorbike. He honestly couldn’t wait to get the thing running, it would make his life so much easier and the process of working on it would be a nice return to his life before he started at Hogwarts. He missed the smell of grease and exhaust fumes.

Miranda smiled at Belle. "And I. It should be fun! And we do have the wonderful protection of magic. Having worked with creatures who thrive on fire, I DO have some experience with random explosions."
She raised her eyebrows as Dean rolled his shoulders and said dryly. "Your aversion to the aid of magic never ceases to amaze me. How on earth do you mange it here surrounded by magic?"
She couldn't help it. Dean always managed to bring out any bit of annoyance she had accumulated.

"Aw, Dean, do you really have so little faith in me?" Belle teased, nudging his shoulder. "I'll learn. Just give me some time. Soon I'll be able to make things better and tastier than coffee out of that coffee pot of yours." Of course, nothing was probably better than coffee in Dean's eyes, but Belle still liked the idea of her making something a little more grand. Not that she was expecting to learn how to make a three-course dinner in a matter of days. She knew that was unrealistic planning. But it was nice to dream about it.

“I don’t manage,” Dean replied looking over at Miranda, “That’s the problem. Ever spell I have every tried has gone array in some way. I’m surprised you weren’t regaled with my less than stellar performance at Hogwarts. The only reason I graduated was because I knew how to write a decent essay.”

His school years still made him flinch, the embarrassment in class was one things but seeing his grades every term was enough to make him want to quit school all-together. Especially, when every time a report was issued he see his grades and then Tony’s who excelled in all his classes easily, and Belle even had to help him in some classes and she was three years his junior. It was all part of the reason he had been so eager to leave the wizarding world.

“Belle, I have as much faith in you as prior experience will let me.” He looked back to the brunette with a grin, “But I’m still not going near you until I know for sure that you won’t accidently poison me.”

"Don't worry," she said, smiling warmly at Belle. "We'll have you cooking delicious meals in no time!"
Her eyes flashed, and her smile transformed into a wicked grin. "Oohh I remember the stories. And never let you forget it."
Anytime Dean had backed her into a verbal corner when they had been snapping at each other, she had brought up that subject. It had usually shut him up pretty quickly.
"And yet you decided to return...for reasons I still cannot fathom. You had such hate for the wizarding world."
She kept her voice pleasant, but Dean just sparked old pains, and one of the few ways she had learned to deal with that pain was through anger, even if it wasn't always directed in the right place.