Old Friends, New Business

Jack was trying to get her life back on order. With Max gone, there was this empty vacuum, that she really had no experience on how to fill. Max had filled the gap of Albus, Albus had filled the gap of Nemo, Nemo the gap of Chase, Chase of Vito, Vito of Elliot. Jack had not realized this was her nature - that while she was not one for a group of friends, for a variety of acquaintances, she always had a person, a person to pour into, a person to protect and serve, a person her heart could dedicate itself to.

And Max was gone.

She poured her time, of course, into the two kids that had become her life. Extended from that was Sunny's close friends, Lize and Tomas, as well as Viv and Keith, who had taken up residencies in her home. Then there was returning to work and throwing herself, 100%, into that work, as well as back into Quidditch. She did that, until a pesky window of time opened up in her schedule.

That was when she decided she had better contact Nick Potter.

She sent him an owl and when the time came, dawned a jacket and slipped out of the insanity that was her home. Within moments, she was walking up the steps to Number 12 and slipping inside, sneaking across the hallway and into the kitchen, where she would await Nick.

Nick was never one to question anything, or be skeptical about things. The moment Nick had received an owl from Jack Dyllan though, he couldn't begin to wonder why. The pair hadn't talked in months, and only seeing her at Order meetings back before everyone had left, he hadn't seen her in months either. So when Nick got the owl from her, he was rather skeptical about why she would want to meet with him. Was there some sort of distress she was going through? Or maybe she had acquired some sort of intel on a new death order movement.

Nick moved throughout the house in circles, and deep thought until Jack would arrive.

Except when Nick walked into the kitchen, he came face to face with his former Falmouth Falcons teammate. Nick noticed no abnormalities in Jack's presence. She seemed to him relatively at ease to him, or as at ease as she could be. Nick had known Jack for quite some time. They were only a year apart at Hogwarts, and they were both in the same house. Beyond that they were in teammates for the Falmouth Falcons, before a multitude of concussions had ended Nick's career. They hadn't really crossed paths during their shared time together as part of the Order, until now that is.

"Helllo Jacqueline." Nick had greeted with the same fake enthusiasm and politeness he greeted everyone with. As Nick awaited a response, he braced himself for whatever she was going to say to him. He was tense, anyone could tell that.

"Jack," came the curt reply, accompanied by a quirked eyebrow. Jack appeared from behind the open refrigerator door, pulling two beers out of the fridge. She raised them for Nick to see, her way of offering, before deftly popping the cap off of the beer on the counter. She tossed the caps into the trash and held the beer out to him, before taking a swig of her own. She put it down on the counter, exhaling as she did.

"How've you been, mate?" she asked, looking relatively relaxed. Nick, by comparison, looked rather agitated, his muscles taut. Leadership did that, especially with the Order. He was also looking at her with apprehension, definitely uncertain as to why she had sought out a meeting with him - it was dripping off of him.

With time. With time.