Getting Catty PV Miranda Everest

Interacting with @Ruby Cazares (well, technically her cat, but you get the idea)

If you had asked Miranda what she’d be doing that day, she’d have said reading. Of course, in normal circumstances that was almost always true. But today she’d decided that it was too nice to read inside, and too windy to read up in a tree, which is what she normally did. As a result, Miranda found herself sketching in the shade of a large oak tree, trying to make an accurate replica of the Great Lake, and possibly the giant squid’s tentacles if it decided to make an appearance.

She furrowed her brow in concentration and worked to put the finishing touches on a clump of cattails, but was briefly distracted by a butterfly flitting past her nose. Miranda watched it for a moment, then leaned down and quickly sketched it onto the sky background of her drawing. There.

While Miranda wasn’t the best at drawing, it was a skill she was attempting to cultivate, so that meant practice. And practice meant no reading, much to her irritation.

Just as she prepared to return to the half-finished cattails, a loud mewing sound broke through her focus and something soft and fuzzy brushed against her arm, making her pencil drift in a wide ark and make some unsightly lines.

“What in the world?” she muttered crossly, then glanced over to see what had caused the disturbance.

It was a cat. A sleek, well-fed cat that looked entirely too smug for Miranda’s liking. It sidled closet and rubbed against her arm again, most likely wanting her to pet it. Well, that most certainly wasn't going to happen.

With a disgusted snort, she shoved the cat back, sending it stumbling. Good riddance.

~ * ~

Blue eyes scanned the surrounding area as Ruby walked at a brisk pace, searching for her cat. It was not long before she spotted him by a girl under a tree. It surprised her to see Apollo being so outwardly affectionate to a complete stranger—normally he was pretty shy when meeting someone and gradually warmed up to them. Perhaps his curiosity and adventurousness got the better of him this time. “I apologise if my cat distur–” she began, but broke off as the girl shoved him. He stumbled backwards, and Ruby steadied him. Oh, it was on. No one messed with her cat and got away with it.

“Hey, what the hell was that for? What do you think you're doing?” Her light eyes were like shards of ice as she glared daggers at the offending girl. That was her cat. Her sweet little Apollo, who would never knowingly do anything to hurt someone. His owner was not so kind and forgiving. Mind going a mile a minute, she wondered what she should do with this bad-tempered girl who had crossed paths with her. Was it worth hexing her for? Probably not. Detention? Had she even broken a rule yet? No, but disrespecting a staff member was against the rules if she answered by insulting her. Angrily, she waited for the girl to respond, keeping her face blank and almost emotionless besides the look in her eyes.

~ * ~

Miranda had just returned to her drawing, glad the feline disturbance was gone, when a sharp voice cut through the air. With an expression of great annoyance, she glanced up to see a girl that looked to be a year or two older than her, with the telltale robes of the Slytherin house.

Seriously? She had just dealt with another annoying person from that house not even three days ago. Miranda really wasn't looking for a repeat, especially when arguing with them made her feel guilty whenever she met up with her own friends in that house. Of course, not everyone was as kind. It made sense that some Slytherins lived up to the rumours.

"What do you mean?" Miranda asked, not exactly trying to sound scathing, although it slipped out. "I'm drawing. Had that suddenly become forbidden?"

She realized her voice wasn't anywhere near friendly, so she repeated the words in a slightly more agreeable tone, although her face still looked clouded and grim. Her day had been quite good until this girl had come and...oh. A look of realization crossed Miranda's face when she saw the cat she'd just pushed leaning against the girl's legs. It was her cat. No wonder she sounded mad.

~ * ~

Ruby was annoyed. Her self-control was already limited and she wanted nothing more than to hex the girl and walk off with her cat. She really didn't want to deal with this brat who thought she was entitled to shoving friendly little animals that didn't belong to her. Saying "go away" and pointing away from herself would have been a good thing to try before rudely pushing the tiny creature. He had almost fallen over; he wasn't big enough for this. What was the girl hoping to accomplish? Did she have some kind of attitude problem or just a lack of common sense? Being unkind to things weaker than herself would solve nothing.

Ruby scowled, but quickly wiped it off her face. Even the tone was unnecessarily snarky. Was she aware that she was talking to a prefect, a member of staff? The sun was shining brightly and a few rays were surely striking the badge she wore at all times, calling attention to it. “Of course drawing isn't forbidden. Watch your tone. Do you see nothing wrong with pushing pets that belong to other people, or are you just cruel enough to get pleasure from shoving powerless creatures around?”

This girl should be watching her step. Ruby was not someone who took things lightly and let people off with a smile and a hug, a wish of becoming friends. She gave detentions, accompanied by words that could cut as deeply as her spells. She was barely getting started.

~ * ~

Powerless creatures? Miranda found herself wondering. They have more natural weapons that humans do! Excluding our size, that is. She barely restrained herself from making a face.

Instead, she tried to keep her tone polite. Tried...and failed.

"No, of course not. But if it's your cat, which I assume it is, you should keep it away from people who would rather not be disturbed. Not everyone is in love with feline furballs like you seem to be," Miranda snapped, clenching her pencil tighter in her hand, an automatic response to the confrontation.

She studied the other girl, her gaze catching on the prefect badge that was prominently on display. So maybe it wouldn't be the best idea to annoy her, but Miranda had a penchant for treating everyone the same, based on their attitude over anything else. Just because she could punish Miranda didn't mean she should back down with her tail between her legs. Besides, it wasn't like Miranda feared detention or any of the other things a prefect could do to her. She dealt with punishments on a daily basis. One more wouldn't hurt that much.

Besides, Miranda wasn't one to back down in an argument. Never had been, never would.

~ * ~

The girl's tone was short and a little insolent. How to deal with her… she still wanted to hex the girl for treating her cat like that, but she wouldn't. She was sure that her friends could come up with much more interesting punishments if she gave this impertinent girl a detention, and she wouldn't hesitate to consult them. “Obviously it's my cat, why else would I be reacting like this? Wouldn't you be irritated if someone almost knocked your pet over for no reason?”

Was the younger girl so annoyed that she wouldn't listen to reason? Her actions had been unnecessary. Hopefully, she would have some ability to empathise with the prefect and her cat. “Noted,” she responded shortly to the girl insisting that she should keep Apollo away from people. “But this area is for everyone to use, if you hadn't noticed. That includes my cat, especially considering that he's cooped up inside for most of the school day and cats are curious creatures. Sure, not everyone likes cats, but was there such a need to be so impolite about it?”

She hoped that not all animals would be treated like this by the other girl. It was harmful. Who cared if some little girl didn't want to be disturbed? It was still no reason to act like this. She could've hurt the cat. It disgusted Ruby that some people thought they should treat things weaker than themselves like that. Even if it had claws, it was still tiny, and humans here were strong and large as well as possessing magic. What was a cat supposed to do in response to that? It wasn't even about the fact that it was her cat. If that was what she did when the owner was nearby, what would she do to other people's cats that wandered? Would it get more serious than just a shove? And if that was how she treated something she didn't like, she had a lot to learn. Did it make her a danger to humans as well?

~ * ~

"Maybe that's the reason I don't have a pet," Miranda retorted, her eyes flashing. She ignored the niggling part of her mind that argued that the other girl did sort of have a point, in favor for the part that was mad at being challenged like this. So maybe it hadn't been the best idea to push the cat, but the ridiculous furball was fine, wasn't it? Why did its owner insist on picking a fight over that fact?

"Curious creatures?" she echoed in a disbelieving tone. "That's your idea of an excuse? I'm sure there's plenty of pets that are curious, and not all of them feel the need to disrupt the lives of anyone nearby. And he can go be curious somewhere where he won't annoy anyone, you know? Did that idea every cross your mind?"

Miranda continued to glare in the direction of the other girl, not saying anything for a brief moment. She then shrugged noncommittally, although her expression was still twisted into a frown. "So maybe I'm being impolite. But I have a right to be annoyed at being disturbed, especially since your pet started it."

She trailed off, then waited for the other girl to reply with a continued frown that refused to drop from her face. There was just something about her that rubbed her the wrong way.