Closed Rivalry

[Jasper Michaels]

Jasper came into the Great Hall, yawning. He was barely out of bed and he already wished he could just sleep the day away. He took a seat at the table, ignoring everyone around him. He wished there was some sort of challenge here. He began putting his plate together- eggs, bacon, some buttered toast. He even found some crispy hashbrowns and a small waffle. Yum. He began to search for syrup. The routine was slightly comforting, if not a little mind-numbing. He needed to find something that caught his interest, and soon.

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper felt like his life was going pretty well lately. He'd had a good year so far, and he was eager to try out the new prank supplies he had bought during the Brightstone weekend, and eager for his first Quidditch match as well. On top of that, he had actually met a centaur in the forest. It was too bad Maddy had already met one before, so he couldn't really brag to her. But that didn't stop him from bragging to everyone else. As he passed the Gryffindor table, he saw a familiar face he hadn't seen in a while. It seemed to him like he was definitely doing a good job of being the superior Jasper, as the Gryffindor one barely seemed to be around lately. Jasper stopped at the table, then sat down across from the other boy, giving him a grin and a wave. "What's up, fake me? I barely noticed you still go to school here. But I am very busy, being part of the Quidditch team. And I have a lot of friends to keep up with. How have you been doing?" He said, grinning. He knew it wasn't very nice to approach the other boy like this, but fake Jasper deserved it for being so annoying last year.

 

[Jasper Michaels]

Jasper paused as a familiar and annoying voice broke the silence he enjoyed. He raised a brow as he looked up at the other boy. "I've been keeping very busy, training to someday take over my grandmother's company and learning to play bass for a band. But I'm sure playing games with the other children must be very amusing." He retorted. He had mostly been talking about learning the business from his father, but the other boy didn't need to know he was only speculating. It was mildly amusing to see how irritated the boy got. "Besides, I heard my cousin knocked everyone about during quidditch practice. I'm sure you have a few bruised ribs to attend to." He turned back to his breakfast.

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper made himself comfortable at the table, grabbing an apple and taking a huge bite. He looked at Jasper as he spoke about his grandmother's company and a band, snorting at these stories. "Taking over? You're twelve." He said, not believing a word of it. "And oh really? What band?" He scoffed, taking another bite. "Sounds boring to me." He added. He shrugged as Jasper talked about his cousin. It was so dumb to brag about things other people did. "I'm fine, I'm not delicate unlike some people." He said, giving him a look. "Is that why you don't play? Afraid of bludgers?"

 

[Jasper Michaels]

Jasper rolled his eyes. "Doing anything truly worthwhile takes time. She wants to leave the company in the hands of someone capable. That takes training." He took a bite of his food. "And I am sorry if taking the time to actually create something seems boring to you. Throwing balls around is so much more exciting." He took a sip of his drink. "No. I do not play because both of my cousins already do. They seem to let any idiot onto the teams now. I decided doing something original was more worthwhile, instead of following the crowd and hoping I was good enough to please them." He gave the other boy a smile.

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper continued eating the apple, determined not to let the other Jasper get to him. He was clearly better. "Who cares about companies and stuff. That's dumb adult stuff." He told Jasper, wondering why on earth anyone would train a child to take something over. "What if you wanna do something else when you grow up?" He asked him, puzzled. "Most people get a choice in that. I'm going to be a professional Quidditch player. Or an Auror." He said, full of confidence. "And yes, Quidditch is a lot more exciting than dumb training." He told him. "And I bet you're lying about the band, you didn't even answer my question." He scoffed as Jasper said they would let any idiot on the team, getting a bit fired up at that. "Good job, idiot, you just called your own cousin an idiot. Besides, I bet you wouldn't even make the team if you tried, which makes you worse than an idiot." He told him. He then rolled his eyes. "You're only doing what your gran wants you to do. That's following someone and trying to please them. At least I make my own decisions." He grinned. "And I bet you haven't even gone into the forest yet. Too chicken."

 

[Jasper Michaels]

Jasper shook his head at the other boy. "Shows what you know. Once we graduate I'll be running a business and making money and you'll be stuck at home with your parents." He grinned at the thought. He shrugged when he asked why. "Why would I want to do something else? There's nothing that interests me." He scoffed at the Quidditch Player bit, though he paused at the Auror part. "Well... an Auror might be a little bit respectable. A bit," He conceded.

He snorted at the band comment. "I didn't answer because it wasn't the most important. It's a hobby I took up with the twins." He shrugged. He smiled a bit as Jasper got worked up over Quidditch, taking a sip from his goblet. "If Sapphire wants to work out her issues by beating up people with bludgers, that's her choice." He leaned on the table, resting his chin in his hand. "I see no reason to try to join some kiddy game." He shrugged. "And no. I didn't feel like following all the girls into the trees. At least I'm listening to the advice of a respected businesswoman. You're following half the class into the woods because the teachers said not to. Hardly exciting," He teased with a sly grin.

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper scoffed. "Graduating is ages away, and I'll be a famous Quidditch player instead of having to do boring business stuff." He said, wondering if Jasper really thought that was cool or was simply trying to convince himself of it. "Or a famous Auror." He added as the boy said it was a bit more respectable. "You know what? I bet I could do BOTH." He grinned. "At least I still have options." He added, glad that his family wasn't choosing what he had to do for a job. Jasper snorted as the other Jasper admitted the band was something he did with his family, that made it sound a lot less cool. "Quidditch isn't kiddy game, it's a serious sport and you just can't do it." He told the boy. "I bet you can't even fly properly, you probably fall off." He frowned as the boy talked about following girls into trees. "Who is talking about girls? Almost no girls even go into the forest." He told Jasper with a scoff. He knew a few, but he still didn't think that a lot of them did that. "And I bet you're too scared and too busy listening to your grandma to even try it. Or would you dare to go in on your own at night?" He didn't believe Jasper really found it boring, and knew for a fact many of their classmates didn't go there. So his claim of simply not doing it to be original seemed flimsy to him. It annoyed him that Jasper seemed to think himself so superior, when really... everything he was saying just sounded kind of boring.

 

[Jasper Michaels]

Jasper scoffed. "Sure. With hundreds of other kids just like you who think they are the next greatest thing." He shook his head. "I would rather rely on skill and genius than dumb luck." Jasper raised a brow at the other boy. "That sounds dangerous. How can you take on a serious, life-threatening job and take it as a joke? If you are going to be an Auror, you should be devoted to it. Or if you are going to be a Quidditch player, then devote yourself to that. Trying to divide like that will be extremely difficult. You shouldn't play with your life. As much I might try to get a rise out of you, they're both very dangerous albeit rewarding careers."

Jasper sighed, doubting the boy would listen to him. He had ignored most of Jasper's other jests, and he sighed again. "All right. I am rather bored of this idiotic rivalry. You are rather entertaining in this otherwise dull school. I am willing to concede you've won as the bravest Jasper, as long as you do not go and do things that could hurt you seriously. The place would be really rather boring without you here." He admitted. He had never been one for games, and it was well known within the family that he didn't have the wit his relatives did. Jasper had always been the serious one. And if he was being really honest, he did consider the other boy a friend. Not that he would admit it out loud, though.

 

[Jasper Night]

Jasper sighed. "Why do you always have to sound like an old man about it all? Let me dream about what I wanna do!" He said, getting a but frustrated with the other boy. "Sometimes you just have to hope for the best." He rolled his eyes when the boy said that it would be difficult to do both careers. He sighed and propped his chin up on his hand. "I can dream." He muttered. "You don't have to suck all the fun out of it."

The other Jasper's next words surprised him, and Jasper blinked a bit at his words as he said he was entertaining and the bravest Jasper. He laughed a bit as the other boy admitted it would be boring without him around. He had been getting the feeling that the other Jasper thought him stupid and boring, but it seemed like that wasn't the case. "Well, obviously I am the braver Jasper but don't worry. I won't get hurt." He said with a smile. "The forest really isn't so bad... I could show you around sometime, if you wanted." He said, making it a peace offering. "And look, I think you're pretty alright. But sometimes you just gotta be a kid, you know? Do crazy stuff!" He waved his hands. "Get in trouble! Have fun! You don't really seem like you have a lot of fun."