Dax was in an unusual position. Well, actually, just a position, since in the long term this was pretty normal. Dion needed something done that was - to his twin at least - embarrassing, demeaning and involved girls and having to talk to them. In short, Dax was doing his brother a favor. Dion did not yet know this favor was occurring or realize he'd asked Dax for it. But Dax was certain he'd be bloody grateful when he found it and possibly even happy...once he got over being embarrassed and proper and all that.

Yessir, he was a good sibling alright. Maybe this could even be a like, birthday present. Actually, it wouldn't be, Dax already had Dion's gift and it wasn't anything joking or sleazy or anything else people probably expected. In fact, it was thoughtful, practical and elegant and all those things Dion liked and that no one expected Dax to think about.

He cleared his throat, straightened his back and walked out into the Hufflepuff Common room, his eyes scanning for the familiar oddly-hatted head as he closed the rounded door behind him. It was after dinner, so the room was crowded. All the better - if Fauna ran before hearing him out she'd probably trip over someone. And then he could catch her, pick her up and make her listen.

Right. That wasn't creepy at all.

"Hey, Fauna," he said, and vaulted over the back of the couch she was on, landing heavily next to her, assuming the Indian sitting position in midair. He grinned widely. "Hey, Fauna," he repeated, in case she hadn't heard the first time. "You wanna live with Dion? Also me."

Fauna was not the best planner in the world. At the moment, she was flipping through her transfiguration textbook, panicking about how much she had to learn before their NEWTS in June. Parchment, quills, and her wand were scattered all over one half of the couch in the common room, and her things kept inching over to the other side of the seating area. One foot (clad in a colorful polka dot sock) hung off the couch cushions, Fauna oblivious to housemates trying to walk past without tripping over it, and a feather drifted from her hat and onto her book, which she swiped at, muttering under her breath.

"Ahhhh!" She jumped as a figure leapt over the couch and sat across from her, disrupting her oasis of chaos. Piles of parchment started drifting onto the floor, and her rat (nestled in the brim of her hat) stirred in her sleep.

Fauna frowned at Dax, recognizing the grin on his face that meant he had some kind of joke or story in mind. She was working! Or trying to! She opened her mouth to tell him so, but he just greeted her and piped up with a very odd question.

"What?" Fauna stared at him in surprise. "Wait, what?" She repeated dumbly. They'd shared a common room for seven years, and Fauna considered that 'living together'. She knew almost all of the twins' quirks and habits just as well as they knew hers.

"You mean... after we graduate?" Her face flushed and she couldn't help it if she sounded slightly alarmed.

Fauna Blake: always one for the smart questions.

Fauna's surprise, confusion and additional disarray did not seem to effect Dax; these he was used to, especially from her. Even more so when he jumped on her out of no where. Which happened more often than it should, perhaps, but still.

He couldn't help his grin and sarcastic answer, though. "No, right now," he said. "We could go live in the Shrieking Shack, just the 3 of us. It'd be real romantic. We could get Dion an apron, he'd be housewife in 2 seconds flat." That was sort of true, the housewife thing. Dion cleaned up and cooked on his own. Dax did not.

"No, seriously, I mean after graduation. Y'want to be an auror right? An' London costs a lot." He paused, and then, for once, appeared serious - casual, yes, but his grinning obnoxious look vanished to a quieter, more Dion-like kind of composure. "Dion won't ask you, he'd think it was improper or something. But London costs a lot to live in and we haven't got much money. An' he said you and your mum - err. That you might be looking to move out. And you know, multiple people paying bills helps. And makes you not have to live in Knockturn, 'cause if you did you're muggleborn and an Auror so they'd like, kill you or something..." He rubbed the back of his head.

"It's not like a dirty 'come live with us, we'll make it worth your time hur hur' thing," he said. "Just, you know. An option. Maybe."

Fauna's mouth twitched at the image of Dion as a housewife. Out of the three of them, he seemed to be the tidiest and the best at cooking. She shook her head, doubting he'd appreciate Dax's logic!

Her expression softened and she tucked a quill behind her ear as she listened to Dax's explanation. She hadn't expected him to put so much thought into it, and seeing him act serious was just... odd. He made good points, though! They wanted to be Aurors. They didn't have a lot of money saved up. Their mothers drove them batty in various ways. And staying in Knockturn was cheap, but Fauna preferred to live past training.

"I haven't really thought about it," she told him with a sheepish look. Her lack of planning should really be no surprise by now.

"You know, it sounds fun," she continued cautiously. There was a pause. "Why not," Fauna gave him a shy grin and shrugged. Maybe it was the way he'd asked, but she was flattered that Dax actually wanted to live with her, and it surprised her (in a good way) that Dion had thought about her family issues enough to mention them to his brother.

"But Dax!" She held up her hands to ward off the possibility of him vaulting over the couch and running to tell Dion right away. "There should be, uh..." Fauna looked awkward. "Er, other girls there? I mean, like Ruby, or Grace, or Brett?"

Her face flushed. Fauna had obviously never lived with only boys before, and thought it would be more comfortable for everyone if the girl to guy ratio was somewhat balanced.

"Awesome!" Dax smiled, an odd smile for him - completely genuine with out a hint of humor. He'd been half-risen to go get Dion when she stopped him, so he sat on all fours in front of her on the couch, head cocked as he considered what she'd said.

"I think Ruby and Dion would explode the house," he said, deadly serious - and then he laughed, smile gaining a slightly dirty grin quality. "Brett would be fun though. Not that I'm, you know, biased." He winked, sitting back down, and relaxed, melting into the couch like he'd been born to lounge.

"Do you think Grace would want to? She might, you know." He wasn't sure where he was going with that, so he just shrugged. "You sure you'd want to?" He added instead. "I mean, it's practical, but I don't want you to feel pressured or, you know, anything. Or weirded out."

Fauna stifled a laugh. It was all too easy to imagine Ruby and Dion blowing up the house faster than a failed potions experiment, and she knew what he meant when he said he was biased about Brett.

She tilted her head at him, finding it cute that he kept reassuring her he wasn't asking for any special reason. Fauna couldn't blame him; normally she got the 'bolt over the couch' look on her face whenever she realized someone was trying to flirt with her. There was no bolting this time. She just thought it would be nice to live with friends after she graduated.

"Well, it's not like we'll all be sharing one bedroom." Right? Fauna tried a grin, "I'll check with some of the other girls and see if they'd be up for it."

It took Fauna a moment to realize what she'd just said. "Living together." No wonder Dax had asked her. He'd miss these hilarious conversations otherwise.

"Anyway! Er, Dax?" Her tone suddenly turned shy. "Are you sure Dion is going to be okay with it? Maybe he just wants to live with you? 'Cause I can see him, you know, telling me yes because he doesn't want to be rude, and then hitting you later, and then neither of you telling me about it."

Fauna raised her eyebrows at him. She knew the twins too well.

All in one bedroom? As much as the stupid 17 year old wanted to giggle at that, the rarely used mature bits of him were in control at the moment.

"Merlin, I hope not," he said, rubbing the back of his head again. "I mean, that's kind of the point of livin' with as many as possible, so you can afford not to do that. On the money Dion and I have we'd be lucky to have a bedroom. We'd get a studio or something." He smirked again, though, and her hurried correction.

"If all you girls wanna sleep together, I won't stop you," he all but purred. "You can help each other change and paint each other's nails or whatever girls do...while Brett sulks in the corner and Bernie knocks the can of polish over and ruins someone's sheets."

He stretched his legs out and let them drop to the coffee table with a thud. "He'll be fine, though you're right if you think he'd going to be horrified I asked you," he said, and laughed; her assessment was spot on. "Want me to go get him? He's studying. Big shocker, I know."

Fauna covered half her face with her hand and shook her head when Dax made the connection, joking about all the girls in one room. It wasn't much different from the dorm situation now, but Fauna was looking forward to having a bit of space to herself.

"Sounds about right," she nodded. "Except I'd be knocking stuff over instead of Bernie. I just blame it on the rat."

It was funny because it was true.

She was somewhat reassured, even when Dax said Dion would be horrified he'd asked. It was how the twins operated.

"You could tell him I thought of it?" Fauna offered with a mischievous smile. "I mean, if you think it'd go over better. You should go get him. I bet he needs a break from studying at this point, anyway."

Dax gasped, exaggeratedly. "Gasp! How cruel. Next you'll be saying it's the rat who trips you up. You can't deflect all your issues, Fauna, it's not healthy," he said, almost subconsciously imitating Dion's lecture voice. "You have to work through these things!"

"But naw," he said and flopped back to being him. "I'll go drag his as out here and tell 'im what you said. It'd be worth it to see him turn blue with shock. He be all-" He imitated the posture of The Scream. "Daaax! You'll make her think I'm like you - stupid, crass and not an angry virgin!"

Hands dropping, he hopped off the couch, popping his neck. "You wanna talk him down first an' then go talk to Brett n' Grace?"

Fauna rested her head on the back of the couch and laughed at Dax's impersonation of his brother, especially the 'angry virgin' bit. She didn't have any room to talk with that description, but it was just funny.

The rat in her hat (it was like a Dr. Seuss book) finally woke up, tipping the hat to one side as it sat on its hind legs and peered at Dax, nose twitching. Then it leapt down to Fauna's shoulder and chittered in her ear. Fauna took the scolding gamely.

"Sure! I'm always up for breaking into the Gryffindor common room," Fauna grinned. By that, she meant they'd be hollering by the portrait until someone took pity on them and fetched Brett and Grace.

"'aight. Back in a sec," Dax said, and sprung from the couch, bounding off to the boy's dorms. He did this by jumping from couch to couch, or course; nearly launching a first year in the process and certainly launching a few books. He vanished through the round door, ignoring the chaos he trailed - as usual.

It was several minutes later that Dion emerged, slightly disheveled, looking for all the world like Dax had just handed Fauna photo of him in a skirt or something equally awkward and embarassing. He was adjusting his appearance and clothing to look respectable as he approached Fauna, and he bowed his head nervously. Despite his outward appearance, his kept his voice steady; a testament to willpower.

"I'm sorry about Dax, Fauna. If he said anything, ah, inappropriate..." He started.

Fauna ducked underneath her hat and laughed silently at the random bunny hop Dax made to the boy's dorms, uprooting everyone in his wake. So typical. After a moment she started picking up her own parchment off the floor and putting it into some semblance of organization. She was leaning over the couch making a grab for flyaway papers when Dion appeared, looking like Tornado!Dax had ruffled his hair.

She straightened, studying his worried face.

"What?" Fauna said for the fifth time that day as she tried to figure out if Dax had told his brother anything. "Er, no, he was being surprisingly appropriate," she smiled.

"But, um... we were talking, and... uh," Fauna shuffled the papers in her hands and glanced at him.

"What do you think... I mean, you and Dax will probably be living together after graduation? Are you, um, looking for any flatmates? Flatmates that aren't blokes? 'Cause, you know..."

Fauna trailed off, expression both anxious and hopeful.

Dion's turn to sit on the couch. He sat, unlike Dax, much more formally, his body language transforming from nervous to official at Fauna's reassurance. Still, the telltale fidget gave him away.

"We were discussing the possibility," he admitted. "We don't have a lot of money, even though we've been trying to save up, and Mum, well....The money isn't much.  It's enough for the first month's rent, perhaps, but not the other fees and so on associated with a London apartment. And Knockturn is far too dangerous, given our profession of choice," he added. "Cheap, but got that way for a reason."

He rubbed the back of his head, Dax like for a moment. "Honestly, gender doesn't...isn't an issue?" He wasn't sure how to say that and it showed. "Provided we can afford a place that makes it possible to be respectful." He smiled, slightly. "Not a studio, in other words."

Rubbing his hands together, he looked at her thoughtfully. "I was planning on taking out a loan," he explained. "It's the only way. But if there's more people, then...we could probably afford a house? Instead of a flat." He cleared his throat. "And, err, I might have mentioned that you weren't likely to want to live at home for too long."

Fauna curled her legs up on the couch and listened as he mentioned the cost of rent and fees and several things she hadn't yet thought about much. She had some money saved up. Not a lot, but some.

"Yeah," she nodded, looking at him curiously. Fauna smiled at him for a moment, then shook her head. "Yeah, things are still a bit tense between me and my mum. You'd think, I mean, some parents are happy about the whole Auror thing? But a part of me worries she's going to mess with my alarm clock on the first day of training, or something..."

Fauna trailed off. Her mum wouldn't actually do that; she knew that. It was just easier for her to live elsewhere rather than constantly explain or defend what she was doing at work.

"Well, anyway, if you are looking for flatmates, or housemates, I'd, you know... volunteer?" Fauna put a hand over her face and chuckled over the odd way that sounded.

"But only if you think you can stand my hat collection. It'll be coming with me. Bernie, too," she grinned, giving him fair warning.

Dion perked up; a smile fleeted across his features, gone almost as soon as it appeared.

"Thanks, Fauna," he told her. "And don't worry. If Dax is bringing that stupid dog of his, your rat is completely welcome. Just be sure to keep Bernie away from the dog during the day." He sighed, and looked back over the couch; Dax was gone, headed off somewhere. "I'll let you know if I'm able to get that loan or if...something presents itself." He folded his hands, gaze soft for a moment. "I'm sorry about your mum, Fauna. I wish..."

He fidgeted awkwardly and then quickly looked around again. "Where did Dax get to? He made it found like he'd asked..others," Dion's thin veil of annoyance and formality was back, his eyes darting the common room, not seeing Ruby and instantly worrying his brother had run off to ask her.