We should live until we die.

The row of cottages were separate, yet conjoined; near, yet clearly defined. The lane itself was a peaceful street. Though it was not far from the hubbbub of London, it was far enough to be peaceful. There was a small two block radius of wizarding homes, before it gave way to the greater muggle masses, so magic, while present, was not blatant nor loud. The neighborhood was a calm one, unaccounted to change, and settled with no intentions to be somehow uprooted.

Today was the day it all changed.

Jack had rented a small van, because it was easier. Said van was already at her new residence, because Jack did not comprehend how she could lug Mongo or Fred along with her. Elliot had morphed into a small white pup that comfortably curled up in the pocket of her coat, and she had a bag slung over her shoulder with her more precious items, the items she typically carried about on a daily basis anyway. She had apparated to a safe place and was now crossing a bridge which led to her new home.

It was strange, leaving the house that had been so well suited for her, the house that harbored so many dear memories. Lately, however, those memories had been more suffocating than dear. She knew it was time for a change, as terrifying as it was. Jack, queen of chaos and uncertainty, had found herself to comfortable with settling. And now, she had to shake up the order of things, and resettle. And that, for so many different reasons, didn't seem possible.

Their landlord, Winston Garfield, was an elder gentleman - seemingly obliging and grumpy at the same time. He had purchased the house for a younger mistress who had run off with his grandson - something that had was dealt with equal amounts of amusement and resentment in the old man. The house was a bit too big for one tenant, and Winston had informed Jack there was another person to be living with her, though Winston's memory had not been in its best shape that day. Or perhaps it had been, and Jack really was sharing a home with a mallard named Carl.

Either way, Jack had a lot of adjusting to do, and she thought it better to do it sooner rather than later. Move in day had arrived and, try as she might, she did not manage to outrun the cloud of gloom that had become her shadow. She approached the home, looking both incredibly tired and startlingly fierce.

Before she entered the home, she stopped by the van, opening the back doors. Immediately, Fred and Mongo bolted. She stuffed the former, a foul-mouthed ferret, into one of her other pockets, and clamped an arm around the latter, a sock-eating ottoman who was convinced he was a cocker spaniel. She leaned forward and grabbed her broom, the most important large item she owned, and made her way towards the garden gate.

Elliot, the shape-shifting Gytrash, lept from her pocket and transformed into his usual form of the spectral Irish wolfhound, nosing open the gate. The door was unlocked and she pushed it open. She shuffled down the narrow hall into the living room. There, she set her broomstick upon the sofa and dropped Mongo. He immediately began sniffing around for spare socks - meanwhile, Elliot was exploring, his hair on end. Fred poked his head out of her jacket and said, "Mangy pigsty!"

And that was when a door opened, and Mongo charged.

"Watch your socks!" Jack warned.

Like it or not, the time for change had come in Maximus's life. It had been seven years since he had graduated Hogwarts and in all that time he had lived in the same place with the same person. This of course meant that until last weekend when he had started packing, some of Max's more forgotten possessions had gone untouched for the longest time. This old room had become a time capsule of everything from old school textbooks to forgotten paperwork from early days on the job. Rifling through it all had been no small task but it had proved amusing for both himself and Patrick at times. Because as they went through his trash they also got to revisit all of the memories of their seven years living together. Honoring an era coming to a close.

Max dragged behind him one extremely enlarged trunk that he had stuffed everything he wanted to take with him in. If not for some lightening charms the trunk would have been much too heavy to lift but even now it was still a bit of a strain to move it. Patrick had taken most of the furniture for his new home but Max hadn't been able to bear giving up his books. This sentimentality now backfired as he attempted to drag around a full library.

With a pop Max apperated into an empty ally with his bag in the new town. He hadn't been sure of how big a muggle population the town had and he was able to breathe a small sigh on relief when no one pointed and stared at the man who had appeared out of thin air. As Max moved on to the Main Street he was pleased with the surroundings. The houses with more open here and most had a small yard beside them. It was London (something that he had insisted upon when searching) but it didn't really feel it. It would be a change for someone who had lived downtown for their entire life. But change was good, right?

Once again Max looked to the small paper in his hand and reread an address he had already memorized. When the number on the cottage in front of him matched his instructions he stopped and walked up the path to the door. He inserted his key but found it was unlocked and pushed the door in to view his new home.

Before he had so much as seen the color of the walls Max was being charged by.. some sort of animal. With a start he jumped backwards but not nearly fast enough. In a flash half his sock had been ripped off and the creature was scurrying away with his prize. "It.. My sock.." With an expression of utter confusion at what had just occurred, Max turned to the woman who had shouted at him. Her presence had just registered and for a moment he was quite confused indeed. His brain decided to deal with the issue of the woman before dealing with his half missing sock that had just been ripped off of his foot.

"Why are you in my apartment?"

The landlord, a rapidly aging man, had told Max his roommate was to be a man his age. He had said his name was James or Jack or something. The woman before him was neither an old landlord or his new roommate, leaving her with absolutely no reason to be here.

The newcomer was simply not quick enough for Mongo, who had increased in agility rapidly in the past year or so. She had always been accustomed to simply leaving socks about for him, but Nemo had turned feeding the ottoman into a bit of a game. There were many nights when Jack would come home to see Nemo sprinting madly through the house, four layers of socks on, as Mongo raced after. These night excursions usually ended in Nemo sliding and hitting his head and Jack having to mend him, but it had also taught the ottoman endurance and speed. This man really had no chance.

He stuttered and Jack stepped forward, grabbing one of Mongo's corners and pulling fiercely. "No, Mongo. You have your own dinner. You wait." She spun him around and Fred raced towards him, saying, "Potato face!" to the ottoman. It wriggled in indignation and the two began a mad dash about the house. Elliot let out a little sigh and laid down, much too tired to deal with the lesser pets' shenanigans.

Jack turned her attention back to the newcomer. She supposed this would be her roommate then. This face was vaguely familiar - she felt it was somehow connected to the Ministry. When she had become Head, her duties had spread far behind her own department, and she had explored many portions of the Ministry, adding more and more faces into the memory bank in her mind. Though she would bet this man was a Ministry man, she really found nothing more to help her. He was older, around Nemo's age, actually, unfortunately.

Jack was not sure how she felt about this now. It had been too quick, allowing herself to get into another roommate situation. On the other hand, it was certainly a change from the never-ending solitude of the past few months. Besides, just because she had a new roommate, did not guarantee anything. They were roommates - they didn't have to be friends or anything of that sort. They happened to be living together. It was really just as simple as that.

His question was abrupt, and one she had not quite expected. Either the man had poor reasoning with context clues, or he had been somehow seriously mislead. She held out a hand, her expression straight. "As of today, I live here. I'm Jack Dyllan."

She did not care if she got off on the wrong foot with this man. Jack had learned long ago that she was simply not compatible with most people; and those she happened to find herself easily bonded to, left her worse off than she started. If this guy met her and found he would rather keep her at an arm's length, she knew it would be for the best. She told herself she would strive to do the same, but she had given up faith in her own ability to self destruct every other moment. She was simply a danger to herself and others.

As soon as the woman spoke Max felt the lightbulb go off above his head, quickly feeling rude for his snappish tone. With the slightest bit of trepidation he
moved deeper into the room, eyes searching for more attacking animals. Max extended his hand for Jack to shake. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting.. I mean, he didn't say.. Ah, well, I'm Maximus Morrison. Nice to meet you."

The whole idea of rooming with a woman was somewhat baffling to Max, who's closest domestic-y encounter was when Patricks girlfriend, Andromeda (Andy), came to dinner and stayed overnight. Beyond his mother and younger sister the female species was quite unknown and mysterious to Max. He had never lived with a woman or girlfriend or any sort of non-blood-related female. Much less one who had dangerous pets. But change. Change was good. Right?

Looking around the entry hall a smile twinged at the corners of Max's mouth. It was a bit discolored but in a pleasantly worn and lived in way. The stairs cramped the hallway but had beautiful woodwork on them. "You been here long enough to give me a tour of the place? Mr. Garfield never had the chance." He was eager to explore the many rooms off the hall and discover his new home. It had been so long since he had moved he was starting to feel the same giddiness as after he had graduated and moved out of his childhood home.

He approached cautiously, as though any false step might lead to an underground mine that would end him right then and there. Though, Jack had a feeling this had more to do with her small zoo than a potential minefield. Nevertheless, she gave him one of her attempted finger-breakings (some people called them handshakes) and logged away the name : Maximus Morrison. Well, that sure did roll off the tongue nicely. Even she could admit to something like that.

She withdrew and Elliot stood, not deciding it was time for his own inspection. He approached Maximus, leaning his head forward to smell him. There was a small pause, and then Elliot beat his tail twice against Jack's leg. One tail wag always meant - no reason to be upset. Two was surprising - that meant that Elliot personally liked him for some reason. The dog's affections, though more readily given than his master's, was still a rare gift. The dog nudged Max, asking to be pet.

"That's Elliot. Don't be shocked if you think I have fifty white dogs - it's all him. He's a rescue. A Gytrash - and they shapeshift between breeds of either dogs or horses. Luckily, Elliot is the dog kind, so you don't need to worry about ponies in the kitchen."

Mongo and Fred rocketed through the hallway, and into one of the other rooms, the former panting and the latter cursing. "And that'd be Mongo, the enchanted, sock-eating ottoman, and Fred, the Jarvey. So, that's everyone." Well, except for Sunny, who Jack was expecting soon, but she thought it best to allow the man some time to digest all she was presenting to him.

She shook her head. "I just got here a minute or so before you. But he did give me three tours of the place during our first meeting - he kept forgetting and he really seemed to enjoy the exercise, so I let it slide." She set down her knapsack and gestured for him to follow.

She walked down the hallway, gesturing towards the respective doors. "Living room. Bathroom. The sitting room and kitchen connect over there, but we'll come back to that later." She climbed the stairs and onto the second landing, pushing open the first door. "This is your room. There's also a connected study and master bathroom." She paused, sure he wished to deposit his things off here and take a look around.

The small white dog nudged Max's leg, clearly smelling him as if to deem him worthy. Max had always had a love-hate relationship with animals of all kinds.. They either wanted to kill him or be his best friend. It was much the same on Max's end - he took to some and avoided others. Patrick had a parrot whom Max had quite a rivalry with for many years. The birds bright green feathers had been flashy and his high mimicking voice never lost a chance to insult Max when his owner was out of the room.

It seemed as if his new roommate owned her own pet shop and a chorus of animal sounds coming from around the house only reinforced this belief. In seconds the dog trotted back to its mistress and Max. A shape shifting dog? A grin emerged on the mans face as he looked down at the pup. As the list of pets went on and on Max couldn't help but feel that he was slacking in the animal department. Luckily Jack was making up for it.

Jack led him through the hall and up the stairs, pointing at rooms a they went by. When they reached the room that was now his Max entered the space before Jack, dragging his trunk in and dropping it by the wall. He was desperate to start unpacking it (the space was still a strangers) but with Jack standing right there he didn't want to be rude.

"Thanks." Max spoke, unsure of how to act around this perfect stranger. There really was no respectful way of asking someone if they were an axe murderer, or if they snored, or if they liked their hot chocolate with whipped cream. All the things that Max thought should be told to a new roommate. You know, the important stuff.

"I don't really have too much stuff. Wasn't sure how furnished it would be.." a look of concern crossed his face. "Do we have plates?"

Max (as she had decided nicknames were okay if a name were tiring enough) seemed to be a quiet enough fellow. Jack both appreciated and disliked that, but she could not figure out what she felt more. On one hand, if anyone tried to be as colorful as her last roommate, they would fall terribly short, and, no matter how exciting they might be, it would make her miss him more as their attempts to replicate that looked so dismal. But someone who was quiet made Nemo look even more like someone to miss by comparison, even if they were more of a relaxing option to the exciting one.

Still, Jack had learned long ago that her snap judgments always came back to bite her in the ass, so she would do her best to refrain from making them now. She was sure it was better to have no opinion of this new man than too strong of any other opinion. It was sure to blow up otherwise.

She had already seen the house in full with Winston, but it certainly was different seeing it with the perspective of This is mine, and this is this stranger's too. We own this together. Kind of. She had to consider where she would be putting things. She had known her room was missing some furniture, as well as her office, and she could not leave home without bringing her really puffy 'Dictator Chair'. The chair had recieved the name when Nemo had observed that she sat in it every time she was trying to make major decisions, or appear menacing. She typically looked like an overlord when she sat in it.

Max brought up the concern of plates. She waved a hand. "I brought some. They aren't fine china, but they are clean. The place is pretty updated. Winston had it move in ready before he had to list it." She shrugged and then glanced out the hallway as she leaned against the doorway. "There's a guest bathroom down the hall. The other door on the left is a really small guest room that we can use as storage or whatever. The room across it is mine and the door across from yours is my office - well, closet. But Winston said I could turn it into an office. Well, he said not to, but I'm going to anyway, so.."

She shrugged. She would like to unpack but a conversation she had been in recently with one of her werewolf contacts reminded her that she had probably better warn her new roommate about the inherent dangers of coming in contact with her. "You don't mind werewolves, do you?" she said, rather abruptly.

Max nodded as she further explained the layout of the land, trying to map it all out in his head and keep the countless doors strait. It seemed quite likely that he would end up walking into Jack's room at some point, believing that it was the library. The apartment didn't really feel like an apartment - it was a house and a decent sized out at that but Max couldn't complain. Even with the herd of animals that trampled around and the perfect stranger who would sleep across the hall he was sure there would be more than enough room for them to share. Wouldn't there?

The comment on werewolves threw Max a little. For a briefest moment he wondered if the redhead herself was ailed with the transformation. Max's support of warewolf rights was more of the theoretical sort.. In a perfect world they should be equal to wizards but in reality Max would really prefer they would stay away. He had never come in contact with a warewolf on a full moon and had very few conversations with wizards in their human form. It wasn't that he had a problem with them.. he was just cautious enough to hope there wouldn't be one. But instead of the confident 'of course I don't' that he had planned in his head it came out more as: "Urm. I don't think so?"

Max's expression clearly called for elaboration on the subject and the thought of warewolf attack put him on his toes again. "Why?" He asked cautiously, dreading the worst.

He looked startled by her comment, naturally, and Jack felt herself relax a little as she tried to look at the situation objectively. Here this man was being bombarded with the newness of a change of place, adjusting to her (which was a tall order for most people), and being bowled over by strange creatures, and now she was casually throwing out shout outs of werewolves. Anyone would be more than surprised right now - most would be downright concerned. She allowed a small smile, one that was hardly a ghost of her true smile, but one that expressed her own apology for the suddenness of the charge.

"I worked with werewolves in the Ministry, and I sort of established myself as the go-to person for the werewolf in need. I only mention it because it doesn't take long for them to find me." She was realizing how dangerous and frightening the whole idea really sounded. She quickly amended, "It's nothing bad - they usually come after a full moon to recover, or before to get some Wolfsbane and to borrow Elliot. He protects them."

Of course, there was some risk. One of the werewolves she dealt with was a bit rogue, and she had come into a bit of a 'disagreement' with him once or twice. "Basically, there house guests of sorts, and I promise you'll never have to worry once they are in the house. But, never let one in. Let me make sure it's safe." She shrugged. "Do you have anything I should know about you?"

Ah, there it was. As soon as Jack said she had worked at the Ministry the peices got put together in his brain and he was able to place where he had seen her before. Figuring out where he knew her from relaxed him slightly, working to cancel out the fear of wolf visits that was now lodged in his brain. When she asked if there was anything she should know about him he gave a nervous laugh. Did she really think he could top her little introduction on the danger scale?

"I work at the Ministry too. Sometimes I deal with exploding jewelry or angry muggle politians. But I think you should be safe."

Max's brain was gathering everything he could remember about Jack Dyllan from the past and her time at the Ministry. Their paths had never crossed before since Jack had worked in a far off department. Law Enforcement? No, no. Magical beasts. Max remembered when she had been appointed department head. It had only been noted because she was young and unqualified on her resume and someone in his department had been complaining about the system. That was why the Ministry loved Max so much.. He couldn't care less about the way they ran things as long as it didn't interfere with his daily activities and work.

"Speaking of work - I might have to head out soon. I only got the morning off so I should probably get back at some point. You need any help with anything before I go?" He shuffled his feet, feeling a bit awkward about the whole situation. "You know, moving in wise?"