Day after day Hermione fought a losing battle. The DADA lessons were indeed moved to the Hogwart's open field. She struggled to reason with her students, who wanted nothing more than to bask in Professor Hale's glory.
"Despite what Professor Hale has told you, Defense Against Dark Arts is neither dying nor 'out of style'." Hermione tried her best to reroute her students toward the defined path of the curriculum. Three hufflepuffs, a Ravenclaw and her Gryffindor boyfriend listened while the rest of the school gathered around Jasper.
Jasper soberly met every expression as he asked question after question. Witches blushed as he purposely passed their way. Every part of Jasper commanded their attention.
"Focus. Bravery. Vigilance. In a battle with your enemy, who can tell me what's most important?" He mildly twanged fifty questions a day.
"Focus!" The Ravenclaws answered in unison.
"It's obviously Bravery." The Gryffindor Prefect corrected them all. Bravery was the key to everything. Everything.
"Vigilance." The hardworking Hufflepuffs begged to differ.
"And you?" Jasper's Hazel eyes narrowed on the little troublemaker of a Slytherin.
"Well, it depends on the battle." She drawled, every bit as opportunistic as any Slytherin.
"That's ten points to this quiet group over here." Jasper nodded once and quickly turned around to face the rest of his pupils. He continued to lecture about the benefits of a strategical mind, the importance of tactical knowledge, and above all- speed.
Jasper was just about to direct a Hufflepuff against two Gryffindors when Hermione swiftly advanced behind him.
"Muffilato!" Hermione shot a silencing hex his way. Jasper jumped an inch away from the curse and turned around to manually disarm Hermione. He gently held her waist in the process, never wanting her to fall on the ground.
The entire class froze as Jasper let go of her. The completely wandless witch landed softly on the ground. Hermione shut her eyes and tensed. There was a long silence as waves of invisible magic emitted from the scorned witch; it shook the ground. Hermione's voice came out even, despite her fury.
"This is the end of your lesson and also your apprenticeship, no matter what the... circumstance may be. You will not teach anyone to duel unfairly." Hermione simply stated.
"Many battles aren't fair." Jasper replied, tossing her wand back.
"Your personal experiences hardly count for credible education." Hermione's voice raised a notch.
"Ya can't 'teach' credibility." Jasper firmed. Hermione advanced on Jasper as he willingly prepared himself to receive a slap. He wouldn't allow an embarasssed young lady to embarrass herself further. Hermione didn't slap him, at least not physically.
"Just because you've been treated poorly does not give you any right to pass that mindset on to our students!" Hermione's voice shook to that of an angry wife.
"You need to relax." Jasper calmly replied.
Meanwhile all of Hogwarts anxiously tilted their heads back and forth at the pace of their professors' scholarly debate.
"Relax?" Hermione laughed, finally losing control.
"Is that what you tell them before they either die or Turn?" She hissed just below hearing level. Jasper flinched at his own past before looking at Hermione. The slap came, in an unexpected way.
"Exactly, Miss Granger. Many battles aren't fair. You just dealt me a very low wildcard, and you just won." Jasper whispered before he walked away.
Hermione's jaw tensed as she abruptly dismissed the students for the day. They quickly ran off to their respective Houses. No one dared to question what just happened, out of fear of being caught in the crossfire.
The Cold War had begun. Avid avoidance.
The rest of Hermione's week was spent between teaching lessons and living in the library. She couldn't find anything on reTurning or history of Cold Ones in the Wizarding world.
It became a routine. Hermione left her empty quarters, taught her students alone, and returned only for brief naps. She'd begun to lose weight from the extra time she spent trying to figure out what happened between Jasper and her cumbersome ankle.
It wasn't until all the prefects had secured their Houses for the Hogsmead weekend that Hermione brought her research back to their professorial quarters, alone.
Jasper spent every day of that very same week in the Forbidden Forest. He was hoping to run into a Cold One. No luck. He refused to contact his Coven out of fear that Alice would come rushing to his side.
After a few more days of avoiding each other, it began to rain hard. Jasper was forced to take refuge in the school, which locked all its doors except the one leading to his shared room with Miss Granger. Resigned, Jasper slowly made his way up the stairs to meet his fate.
Jasper found Hermione underneath a tent of books. The bed was a mess of parchments, notes, and empty quills. Underneath it all was an exhausted witch. She was silently wrapped in her own nest of blankets. Jasper sat at the edge of the bed, not really knowing what to say. Hermione shut her eyes further as she felt the weight of the bed shift. She didn't feel like another argument.
"Tomorrow we will resume our combined efforts to help you safely return to your Coven." Hermione whispered. Jasper softened. She really did believe in rules. And she was suffering for it.
"I'm sorry." Jasper awkwardly offered. Who was he to run on in and teach a bunch of wizards how to fight like a vampire? He was just passing through. How did he get caught up? Easy, teaching battle tactics were his passion, with or without Turning.
Hermione didn't respond. She drifted off into a stubborn sleep. Jasper silently observed her exhausted breaths. The little lady carried the "brightest witch of her age" title on her shoulders. It wasn't a surprise that she'd defend honor over survival.
Jasper felt sorry for her. The expectations this wizarding world had set were pretty high. From the looks of it she set her own standard really high. She didn't go easy on herself when she should've.
"Jasper?" Hermione suddenly interrupted his thoughts. Jasper held his newfound breath. Could she read minds? Did he wake her?
Hermione was always wide awake. She needed to figure out how Jasper came to be so jaded. He was a confederate muggle Major! Honour weighed more than gold back then. Hermione felt quite sorry for him. So she rolled over as he sat on the bed. The moon illuminated his beautiful face.
"Please rest. We've an early day tomorrow." The small voice emerged from the mass of blankets. It was a gentle voice of forgiveness and mild concern. Hermione shifted to the very end of the bed, as if the space wasn't already wide enough between them.
Jasper took his place at the other end of the bed, between the walls of parchment and books. Jasper just bested her in front of the entire school, and here she was, offering him her sleeping space.
Neither realized the bed was slowly shrinking.
Jasper forced himself to stay awake, just in case Hermione needed a friend.