All good things must come to an end (but good things can start)

Jack rolled her eyes at Jess' antics and said, "There's a few good places around here. Let's check out Cafe Twin Montez. It's been awhile since I went there, but it was good the last time." She should have been better acquainted with the shops and restaraunts considering she owned a shop on Diagon Alley, but she had been so busy she had been confined to her stores and her office.

She motioned and took off down Diagon Alley, pointed towards Cafe Twin Montez. She arrived and they were quickly seated. She grabbed a menu and ordered a soda. "God, I'm starved. Dealing with bad guys does that." She grinned at Jess.

Jess nodded as Jack's suggestion came forth. "Ah yes, I know the place. I was there when it was opened, you know," he told her, a smug look on his face for a moment before he chuckled. "I've not been there since the ownership changed hands though," he added as they made their way down the alley to the little cafe.

Taking his seat opposite Jack, Jess ordered an Orange juice and skimmed the menu, frowning for a moment before giving a short sigh. "Lucas used to give me free meals," he muttered, a fleeting pouty look crossing his face.

"He was with us, actually, Lucas. At one point we, in some way shape of form, controlled most of the Alley," he told her, before realising he was going off on tangents again. "Still, this is what fighting bad guys does to you," he told her, jerking his head back towards the workers and laughing to himself, subliminally applauding his own manner of getting back on topic.

Jack raised her eyebrows. “Well, then. You know how good the food typically is there. The change of ownership hardly affected the food quality,” Jack commented knowledgably. Unless, of course, it had changed terribly since she had last eaten there- which she sincerely doubted. It had not been THAT long ago. Besides, Ashe knew Alexis in school, albeit vaguely. She had been a decent girl.

Jess ordered his drink and complained about having to pay. Jack smirked and said, "Economy's down, my friend. No one gets freebies anymore." Jack knew very well how bad the economy was. Her job as department head, and the profits from Weasley's and Satan's, and she still found herself scraping by at times.

Jack listened to Jess' words and nodded, saying, "The times are changing." Have been for awhile, she added silently to herself. Jack grinned as he laughed but was interrupted by the arrival of their drinks. The waitress asked what they would like and Jack answered, "Just a burger and fries, please. Medium rare. Thank you."

Jess chuckled and nodded. "That it is... I suppose it hasn't helped with all the wars and turbulence and whatnot," he commented, looking up when his drink arrived and accepting it with a smile to the waitress. "I'll have the Fried Shrimp with a side of wings," he ordered, passing his menu back before looking at Jack.

"I'm starved, you're right. Doing good is tiring work," he commented, "But on that note, how goes the department? I'll admit, I never picked you for a bureaucrat Jack, too much fun inside of you," he told her, still smiling as he remembered some of the antics she'd got up to at Hogwarts.

Jack shook her head, handing back her menu as well. “Everyone asks that question, and for that reason, too.” It was true- pretty much everyone stated that they had never imagined her for a Ministry employee because she was usually so pro-anarchy in all ways. Honestly, Jack did not think where one worked mattered. Why was it that people thought that what you do, defined who you are? As far as Jack was concerned, who you were defined what you did.

“The department is crazy, but my kind of crazy. I have to say, I do hate protocol, but being able to have a say in the type of protocol is a hell of a lot better than freelancing where I have no say, ever, and make no money. The Ministry provides me with the power and the resources to do the good I hoped I would be able to do. So, yes, it’s going well. You’re a professor, right? How’s Hogwarts?”

"Sounds like a goddamn good reason to be there then," he replied, nodding his head as he spoke. "I must say, being in charge has always appealed to me a hell of a lot more than taking orders... I generally fight back against everything I'm told, I've found," he told her, biting his lower lip for a second.

"Hogwarts is great, I've been teaching there for a few years now, on and off," he said, now returning to a little more of a formal tone. "I love the kids... no, not in that way," he said, shooting Jack a dirty look for the unspoken comment he was sure would pass between the two of them, "I love looking after them, and I like to think, as disgustingly cheesy as it sounds, that I'm making a difference of some sort," he said told her, making a face as he finished up.

"It's also quite handy, I find. Knowing what goes on in Hogwarts is important to me, but I always found that second hand information never did me well," he added with a rueful look. Working with Wilson to get information about the school had been a nightmare during his exile from teaching.

Jack smirked. "That's generally why people think I don't belong in the Ministry. I got in trouble quite a lot during my Hogwarts years because I have that sort of personality. When I'm told to zig, I generally choose to zag." It was true. Jack was fairly sure she had been in detention more often than she had been in class. And that was only for the times she got caught misbehaving.

He commented on his job as professor. Jack had considered taking up the Care of Magical Creatures or Defense Against the Dark Arts if she was led to it; as in, if no other opportunities arose and they were in dire need. As much as she loved Hogwarts, she could not stand the little brats who plagued the halls. Had been annoyed with them since she was one of them.

She smirked as he stopped her train of thought. She put up her hand and bowed her head to call a truce. "Yeah, I am always curious about the goings on. It worries me. It's the place I'd go if I were on the other side." She took a drink.

"It's why I still get into quite a bit of trouble," Jess muttered to himself, a wry grin crossing his face momentarily. "But that's neither here nor there, I suppose," he said, sighing and sitting back in his chair, unintentionally he'd found himself leaning forward on the table, his elbows resting on the rim of it.

Jack was right on the money though, if she knew it or not, Hogwarts was a perfect target, especially in the current unstable climate, as it housed some of the nation's greatest assets within it. "Well, it's nice to be on site, I've always found, keeps you away from things, but keeps you right in the middle of them as well," he told her, laughing at his own statement.

"I wonder when the food'll be ready," he added, glancing back at the kitchen, then quickly at his watch. He was too impatient, he knew, but he was starving... still, their meals were at least 5-10 minutes away - the cooking staff couldn't just whip it out of nowhere.

Jack grinned. "That's the nice thing about being in charge. You give out the punishments, so I get in significantly less trouble than I used to." She chuckled. She had never got in trouble, per se, but Zoe Gould (her old boss) had shown a certain level of weariness and a wear in her capacity to forgive Jack for being a little crazy. She still remembered the stern talking-to she had recieved for riding her secretary in piggy-backed.

Ah... Fun times.

Jack nodded at his words. "It all depends in Hogwarts. It can be a safe place or a torture chamber." She shrugged, because she knew it was true. Some had felt caged by Hogwarts, but those same people ran to Hogwarts in their time of need. It was a strange place in that way. The duality of it was intriguing. Almost... should she say it... magical.

Ah...

Jess was already growing impatient for food. She stood up in her chair a little and was able to peer into the kitchen. "I see a burger... Ah, not mine, they got bacon... Damn, I should have got some bacon. It's still awhile, I guess. We came in at the busy hour. Your fault," she said, pointing at him. "You picked the time."

Jess returned the grin but shook his head. "Trust me when I say this: I think it's far better to have the punishers in check, I've seen more than a few cases where those that dish out are the ones most in need of a good power check," he told her, a look of guilt crossing his face for second.

He then looked at her and raised his hands in an act of surrendering. "I know, I know. Guilty as charged." he laughed. "If only I'd asked Ne'os to meet us an hour earlier, not only would we be less hungry when we got here, but we'd also be eating by now!" He laughed again, but finished with a shrug - truth be told he didn't care that much. Everyone always seemed to think all he thought about was food, he really didn't understand where that belief had come from... Mari did do a good job of spreading it, he supposed.

"Hogwarts is funny like that, isn't it," he finished, sipping on his juice as he looked around the cafe, realising just how little he knew Jack Dyllan...