Dying on the inside is the same as dying on the outside

Leah and SIlvyr followed closely behind Jack as they approached the small old town of Hogsmeade. A perfect gentle breeze blew gently at Silvyr's robes bringing some comfort with it. The trip to the brooms went easier than Silvyr had expected, not including the random stops due to his injuries. His body was fatigued, his energy was quickly depleting, and he knew he needed to get to his room as soon as possible.

Silvyr entered the Three Brooms with Jack and Leah. He was happy to see that the atmosphere was the same as usual. He disregarded the old witches and wizards sitting and mumbling to one another at the tables and took a seat beside Jack at the bar. Exhaustion was nagging at him now that he had taken a seat for the first time in hours. Silvyr began hoping, deep down, that Jack had smoothed things over with Lestrange in the letter she had sent. "Yeah right." Silvyr thought to himself. He had never known her to be one to help smooth any situation.

Jack glanced around as she sat Silvry at the bar, his faithful dog at his feet. She did not think anyone had noticed when he had ducked out of Mungo's but that was only half the problem. Though she had sent word ahead to Matt, he had yet to respond and she was not exactly sure he would be happy to help. She knew he was a do-gooder and would help Silvyr as the temporary Order leader, but she and Matt had not exactly gotten along as of late.

She sat down and the bartender approached. "Two Butterbeers," Jack ordered, before asking, "Where's Matt?" The bartender motioned to the cellar and Jack began walking towards it. "Hey!" the bartender called but Jack responded, "I'm Head of the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. If I say it's Ministry business, nothing you can do to stop me." She smiled snarkily and descended into the cellar.

She spotted Matt in the darkness and gloom of the cellar. "Hey," she called. She paused for a moment. Oh, how terrible it was to ask favors of those she did not want to. "Did you receive my owl?"

Matt had fallen into a bit of a depression. He was getting little sleep due to nightmares and was barely eating anything. He had found himself hiding out in the cellar of The Three Broomsticks to get away from the world which had caused him nothing but grief. He may not be able to stop reality but he sure as hell could stall it. Naturally as the cellar door opened and a familiar voice filled the room he groaned and rolled his eyes.

Although he had retreated to the cellar he had the time to get dressed. He was wearing a dark red sweater and a pair of jeans and black converse sneakers. He had allotted his beard to grow out more than usual which made him look older. He was sitting in a chair, back against the wall looking at the stairs where the redhead was ascending downwards. His head fell back and it hit the wall with a thud. Now was not exactly the best time to be near Matt but of course that wasn't going to stop Jack Dyllan.

He had received the owl but he had hoped that she would take his lack of reply as a sign to leave him alone. But nope, Jack Dyllan was definitely out to get him. He was technically obliged to help out as it was an issues involving a member of the Order. But that didn't mean he had to like it. When she spoke he straightened his neck to give her a good look. "I did." he said plainly. He slapped his hands on his knee's and stood up, pulling out his wand he flicked it. Light filled the room and he began to stroll around the room.

He had absolutely no desire to talk to her. He hadn't said a word since the brief words exchanged a few moments ago. He didn't have a plan of saying any more than that. She would explain the situation for him and then leave him in peace. This depression was new to him and he didn't like it.

Matt answered simply and Jack chewed anxiously on her lip, taking advantage of his turned back to allow her emotions to roll about amongst her. On one hand, Jack felt bad. She had felt potential with Matt for some relief of friendship. She did trust him more than the other Order members, and thought he was both someone to be taken seriously and one to joke around with. And things had changed since their last conversation. With herself. With him. With Nemo. And though things had been clarified back at the zoo she called home, she also felt more isolated than before.

But these feelings were overtaken by pride. Matt was ignoring her, treating her like someone smaller than himself. Well. She did not need him. Silvyr might but not her! She cleared her throat. "Silvyr did not want to be stuck in the hospital, in case he did not recover. He wants somewhere to stay. Where Mungo's officials won't be permitted to solicit him. I guessed you may have an option for him."

Silvyr sat at the bar in a daze as he watched the old bar tender wipe the same glass repeatedly with a filthy rag while carrying on a conversation with a witch at the other end of the bar. He didn't recognize either of them, not that he had put much effort into the task before his eyes went back to the bar tenders subconscious cleaning of the glass. As he looked around the bar once more Silvyr realized what the unfamiliar feeling he had been experiencing reminded him off. His early years at Hogwarts had popped back into his mind as he remembered sitting and waiting for others who were in charge to figure things out and take care of him. As he his thoughts grew deeper he thought to himself, "I haven't been in a situation like this since I was a young ling."

A loud gurgling noise bellowed from under his feet. Silvyr looked down to Leah who was resting beneath him now. He realized neither of them had eaten since the night before. Silvyr lifted his hand and got the attention of the bartender who approached slowly and stopped in front of him behind the bar.

"What can I do for you?" He said in a convincingly helpful tone.

Silvyr listed off a quick order for two turkey legs, a bowl, and a cup of water before dropping 5 sickles on the table and placing his head back on the table. Only a few moments seemed to pass before the man was back, placing the order in front of Silvyr on the bar.

"Will that be all then?" He asked before accepting the small movement of Silvyr's head as a no.

The plate was hot on Silvyr's bare cold skin as he grabbed and lowered it down with one of the legs on it to Leah along with the bowl of water. He watched as she began picking strips of meat from the bone and eating. He too began to gorge down the first meal he'd had in going on 24 hours. The turkey was moist and perfect down to the last bite. Silvyr looked as his hands and inaudibly thought the words cleaning them instantly.

With his hunger gone Silvyr began to wonder where Jack had gone. He stood slowly from his stool and walked to the end of the bar and again motioned for the attention of the bar tender. "I'm just going to follow my friend now, she told me to meet her after I had finished eating." Silvyr's lie was believable and easily spoken. The bartender shrugged and walked away in an angry manner. Silvyr thought he heard a few swears muttered but he didn't care what he had said enough to give it anymore thought. He moved towards the stairs to the side of the bar that Jack had gone down and made his descent into what the dim candle lighting and musty stench told him was the brooms cellar.

Matt kept his back to her as she spoke. Even when she finished speaking to him he refused to face her. He would find no pleasure in opening himself up to her. Then she would win, and Matt would never let her win. They stood in silence, then he heard someone descending the steps that lead to the cellar once more. This gave him an official reason to turn around and look at the visitor. He turned around and his eyes brushed over the figure of Jack and onto the clothed body of Silvyr Svan. Last time he had met the man he had been unconscious and naked. Although not the worst of first impressions he was still very hesitant of the man. Throughout this thought process Matt never opened his mouth once.

Matt finally let his eyes fall on Jack. But they were cold and sharp, eyes from a man who had been to hell and back in the past few days. He crossed his arms and gave her a look if immense displeasure. She wanted Matt to give Silvyr Svan, a man he barely knew, a room in The Three Broomsticks. Not to mention a man who was carrying a disease which had the potential to kill him. He bit the side of his mouth, thinking. He lifted his eyes from Jack to the floor. He found a broken piece of plaster particularly amusing. He had thought of various things he wished to say but none he could speak while Silvyr was inside of the room. "So," he finally began. "You want me to play doctor for a man who has a disease not even St. Mungo's can take care of?" he asked her. "Do you have any idea how bad that sounds?" he asked her.

He let himself go. He really didn't care that Silvyr was in the room. He barely knew the man, he didn't trust the man. But if need be he would be willing to let out a room free of charge for him. But he wasn't going to let Jack know that right away. He wasn't gonna let her off that easy.

Jack resisted the urge to call Matt out on several counts as he continued to refuse to acknowledge her. Real mature, Lestrange. Or something along the lines of Right, it's TOTALLY okay to lead the Order and ignore the members that sought out your assistance. Or, her favorite... B!tch.

Jack refrained however, though, because she heard approaching footsteps and she knew Silvyr had followed. Jack inwardly groaned- it was going to be much harder to insist that he would hardly know Silvyr was there if the man was lurking around. Jack's dread and frustration increased with each step, and full on flared as Matt turned around, ignoring her. She cleared her throat and his eyes met her, cold and heavy. He spoke and she fought the urge to sneer.

"I didn't say play doctor. He just needs a room. He'll watch out for himself. I'm sure he'd a agree to the most discreet option, right Silvyr?" She paused. "Do you know how bad it sounds that a member of the Order personally appealed to the leader in a matter of life and death and he was thrown out in the streets?"

The old wooden boards creaked beneath Silvyr's feet as he descended each step while Leah moved silently at his side. The soft voices that had been coming from bellow stopped. "Shit." Silvyr thought to himself while realizing he was interrupting a conversation he wasn't supposed to hear. Descending down the steps proved difficult but he was doing everything in his power to make his body move normally.

Candles, which had been placed randomly throughout the musky room, made it easier for Silvyr to identify the two figures standing at the back of the cellar. As he came to the bottom of the steps he noticed that Jacks messy red hair was illuminating brighter than normal. "Which means that that must be Lestrange." Silvyr thought to himself while looking at the man standing in front of her.

Jack spoke louder than before. The agitation in her voice told him that everything hadn't been cleared up. Silvyr took the opportunity after Jack had finished speaking to answer her question with an action rather than empty words. Mid stride Silvyr morphed into his animagus form beside Leah. He moved up and sat beside Jack all the while staring into Lestranges eyes. He knew how to be discreet and he didn't plan on spending much time indoors. The forbidden forest was once more of a home than Hogwarts through out his schooling and he preferred to go unnoticed while in public. His presence would be nothing more than a shadow while he stayed at the brooms.

It was odd, looking at Jack and only seeing an enemy. It hadn't been about four months ago that Jack saved his life. But more has happened in four minutes than what had in the past four months. The only reason she was standing before Matt as an enemy was Nemo. The man who had allotted Matt to escape reality at will. Every since escaping that hell whole it haunted him. And it had been ages since he'd seen Nemo. The nightmares returned, cramming him into a deep depression. And now she had the nerve to ask him for help. Matt was too prideful to let her win outright. If Silvyr was damaged in the crossfire between them so be it. He'd find a way to fix things later, it wouldn't be too difficult.

Matt's eyes had been grey since he'd entered that cellar. But since the entrance of Jack an Silvyr they'd gotten slowly darker. He fixed a very cold stare at her and they stood in silence. Staring each other down, nobody making a move. Silvyr had transformed, which was fantastic, he was animagus as well.

Matt took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself down. As prideful as Matt was he really didn't feel like dealing with this woman right now. Disregarding his previous thoughts, he nodded, giving in. "He can stay." he said plainly. He'd make up for this loss later. He could tell it wasn't going to be long until their next meeting. "Room thirteen is free, ask the woman at the bar for a key." he placed his eyes on Silvyr. "Tell her if she has an questions she isn't to disturb me." he added. He placed his eyes on Jack again.

Jack was pleased with this turn of events- Silvyr's presence had brought an end to the tension and had also given a positive twist on how he could work around the complications of the situation. And Matt had agreed to allow Silvyr the room. Silvyr had secured himself a place and Jack could finally step away from the situation. Why it was these things fell to her, one of the youngest members, she had no idea.

"Tell her if she has an questions she isn't to disturb me." Her eyes napped up to meet Matt's and narrowed in on him. She blinked and voiced what she had been thinking. "Are you talking to me? Because I'm right here, Silvyr does not need to be our owl."