My heart, my heart is breaking up.

Jack had fallen in love.

His name was Denny, and he was an African lion. Jack had been driven to the muggle zoo by the temptation of using coupons that had come in the post. The lion cage had stopped her. The zoo had an enormous amount of male lions- four to be exact. An elderly lion named Samson, two twin brothers of moderate age and size named Bo and Ram, and then Denny, the lion a zookeeper claimed was barely out of cubhood.

Jack and Denny were pals, Jack believed. Whenever she went to the glass viewing wall, Denny settled himself against the glass and the two could stare at each for hours on end. Jack had an admiration for Samson, as he was muscular and quick to spring after the females, of whom Jack had little interest. Bo and Ram were comedians and fun to watch. Denny, however young, acted tired. Jack asked the zookeepers and they claimed he was just a tad odd, because he should be the most sexually and actively charged. But he was watchful, quiet, strong but tired.

This was her ninth time this year at the zoo, now. She had pulled the bench right up to the glass. Denny sat in front of her, watching his flicking tail. A lioness rubbed past and he didn't move. Bo and Ram chased after her, leaping on each other and wrestling, before Samson took her for his own, standing above the other males to prove his dominance. Denny looked back at Jack and she smiled, before he blinked turned his head, looking at his paws.

James Wake made it a point to avoid the magical world as often as he could. It was loud, noisy, dusty and always bursting with hapless, selfish questions. In the muggle world, at least, there were outliers. Deviants that asked the questions of the world, rather than questions of the magic. These were the people, James often murmured to himself, that ought to be given the power.

But power swings back and forth between those who want it, and those who need it. In that sense, Muggles were no different from Wizards. Wizards simply abandoned that very human curiosity about their place in the universe- it made them predictable, staid. He knew better than to expect the blemishes of fetid flesh beneath the fat of the wizard, but he often could not resist checking.

But even James, a man that sought psychological stimulation that few brought about within him, found himself at the most banal of places. He later reasoned with himself "even the animals understand themselves better than Wizards do," and would cautiously study them, but he knew what he was truly here to do- to pass the thoughts within his mind. Each scrap of knowledge James Wake had ever obtained till this day floated through his mind as he observed the bull elephants, the hissing iguanas, the fearful koalas, and even the tawdry lions.

It was there he found himself looking at a beast of a less unbecoming nature. "Jack Dyllan," he said, clearly, as he crossed his arms, and stood off in a non-confrontational manner. "I rather unexpected surprise."

Jack did not like when people called upon her and expected to be given the attention she did not think was due to them. She did, however, make exceptions for people who had done her favors, and James Wake had done a favor that not many would have been tempted to do, in that he had once upon a time risked his life to be her dance partner at the Yule Ball. Jack would have never danced had she not been a champion, and a fat load that had done her to allow herself to be forced to dance. The tournament had been called off because of controversy surrounding it and she had been declared winner of the tasks thus completed - so she should have followed her instincts and taken a hippogriff to the dance instead.

But beyond that, she felt it important not to brush him off either as he had seen her in the days before she had hardened herself. Jack Dyllan had only cried once in her time in school, and it had been James Wake who had witnessed the ordeal. And it had been an example of character that he seemed to be the only one who knew of it, too. Jack had lucked out that it had been he who had seen - anyone else in that school and the story would have spread like wildfire. She hadn't even been able to trust Keith Nicholas to keep a secret. Then again, that was her wrongdoing for thinking the boy capable of such a thing.

So, she looked up at him as he approached, looking a tad older than the last she had seen of him. He had to be, what, eighteen? Nineteen? She knew he was a grade beneath her, but couldn't recall his actual birthdate - not that she would have remembered if she had known it. She had forgotten her own birthday this year. It was difficult for Jack to muster up the energy to care for such trivial things.

"James Wake," she said, parroting his tone. "Rather unexpected indeed. Come, grab a section of highly uncomfortable bench - if you have time, that is."

"If time were so expendable, I would find it more adequately spent on more educational matters," James sighed as he sat beside his senior. He rarely passed the time in the company of a fellow Hogwarts student, but during his years at the school, though all but wasted time in his mind, James had found Jack to be... oddly attached to her own psyche.

Most would ignore the gentle prods and pokes their minds would give them. But Jack? She tended to internalize those thoughts. Suppress them within her, but acknowledge their very real, and very invasive existence. She was a "tough girl," wearing a wilting facade that seemed to melt the moment she let go.

It Jack a cross between straight-forward, and continuous perplexing.

And yet, James could passably predict her actions enough for his own comfort. He had always put his all into his job as Prefect, after all. The young man now looked at Jack as she sat there, pondering as to how to better pass the time.

She was, to him, serving as a distraction. A little peace in a bevy of chaos. It was a pleasant thing, but temporal. He stared back at the lions, pondering on their own behavior.

"But such pursuits are available at this moment," the boy said, almost going as far as to sound defeated.

He sat and Jack did not respond to his words, for what had she to say? He sat alongside her and they lapsed into a gentle silence, as Jack watched Denny slowly lift his tired, drooping eyes to fix on James. How the lion could have tired eyes that were still keen and sharper than any other creature Jack had seen, she could not explain, but it was this she felt most drawn too. His eyes were hers. Perhaps only she and Denny could see the tired, and everyone else saw the alertness. Perhaps this was why she and Denny were kindred spirits. All she knew was his eyes assured her that there was more than circumstance, and that the present barely existed enough to matter.

After a moment of silence, she said, "That one is Denny. The others are Samson, Bo, and Ram. I can't tell the lionesses apart, except for Uzuri. She's the oldest one, over there. Bo and Ram are her cubs." She pointed to a lioness with a darker coat the others, noticeably flecked with grey. Jack turned her head. "Animals in the zoo don't crave freedom, and they don't resent the walls. They appreciate them, because it keeps us away. They thrive when they are fed the same thing at the same time every day. The like urinating in the same place. They respond better when they recognized patterns that follow a daily circuit. It's a myth that zoo animals are sad and trapped. They feel safe and sheltered. Their instincts tell them that this way of life is better than harsh survival."

She paused. "Denny's depressed. The zookeepers don't understand why. He responds well to getting fed the same every day, and keeping a routine. They tried changing his and he lost twelve pounds in agitation. But one every few days, he displays symptoms of depression. They've stopped looking into it."

Jack was sharing her thoughts, for she had nothing else to offer, nothing else to give. And perhaps the only way to help her feline friend was to acknowledge that she recognized his sadness.

James sat there, listening to Jack gush about the lions. What more did the lions have to do with the current situation? He knew not. He could merely tell that it mattered to Jack a great deal. He could tell she had a particular connection with Denny, as expressed by her concern for the animal. Seeing no direct resemblance, save the keen eyes, James could only assume the relationship was symbolic only.

If James had been more daring, he would have offered an argument. A statement regarding the fact that Denny would never grow up to see the wild, never see a thing beyond this glass cage and adoring onlookers. Perhaps poor Denny had realized that he never really had the opportunity to live- just the opportunity to survive. But Denny was a lion. Self-realization was a process a bit too difficult to be reliable reconstructed by a lion.

But James remained silent as Jack continued, wondering how she ever came to this place where muggles protect their wildlife.

He said nothing, but Jack would not complain. She did not come to the zoo to have a civilized conversation, she came here to reflect. Fortunately, James was allowing her to do just that by not pressing her for any pleasantries, nor was he questioning the information that she was offering to him and any people who might be passing by at the time. He was allowing her to simply purge her mind of the information that was bouncing about in her head, plaguing her spirit. Each word dispelled provided more room for peace within her.

They once more lapsed into silence as Jack stared at Denny. The lion held her gaze for a few moments longer before pushing himself up and shaking his mane. Some meat had been deposited minutes before and the others had already eaten their fill. With a last contemplative look at the pair staring at him, he turned and went to his supper, flicking his tail with the regained dignity of a beast who had remembered he was indeed untamed and therefore retained his freedom.

Jack expelled a breath and tilted her head to look at James. "So - what have you been doing since being freed from the confines of the school?"