What part of "evil" don't you understand?

Jack was not in the mood for her usual troublemaking or anything like that. Hell, even the ice cream and chocolates in the displays of her favorite sweets shops seemed less alluring. She felt drained, exhausted, and she really wished she could escape.

And for once she did not want to escape to a new adventure. She did not want to chase after Loch Ness monsters, or winged beats, or go find a tree fort, or make a new friend. She wanted some peace and quiet. Unfortunately, she also needed to et a few things at Diagon Alley, so she decided she would kill some time there.

She went into a bookshop and returned with a book called Tricks for Troublemakers. Aha. Whenever someone did not want to be interrupted, one should open up a book. People are less likely to approach you.

Jack walked over to a nearby bench and curled her legs under her as she set the book in her lap and opened it up. For a long time she just stared at the pages, trying t push down all the thoughts and emotions that were trying to surface. Finally she had, and she went back to her robot-like state of mind. Unreadable, uncrossable. She blinked a few times and turned the page.

It was a dark day for Chase Moor. Normally happy, bouncy, always looking for something to do or someone to talk to. Today she walked with her head down. She had woken up to a horrible dream that morning, and would do anything in the world to get the image out of her head. The image of thousands of pounds of water throwing her and her family against a door. The man who had killed them leaving before she woke up. Woke up to find her family dead. Andrew had told her just a while ago, that Jack was friends with that man, called him Vito, even though Chase had never known his name before. Andrew knew him, and had also saved Chase from going over to the side Vito and Ne'Os, and even Nerezza was on. Andrew.. her savior and her boyfriend.

Walking down the streets of Diagon Alley always seemed the best cure for getting the darkness out of her mind. But it wasn't helping today. There were dark clouds on the horizon, and not many people were out, those who were all had those dark umbrellas in their hands, as though waiting for it to rain. Chase liked rain well enough, but whenever it got dark and rainy like this, it reminded her of that night even more. Glancing to her left, she saw someone she hadn't been prepared to see this soon after finding out about Vito. Jack... Chase hesitated, stopping in the street, unsure of what to do or say, but she had to know, she had to know if Jack, one of her best friends... could possibly have anything to do with people who murdered for fun.

Taking a fleeting look up the almost deserted street, she made a U-turn and headed back to Jack. "Hey.." She said with a forced smile. "What you doing all alone reading? That's not the Jackles I know and love.." She said sitting down heavily next to her friend. "Not looking for Nessie today eh?" She asked glancing at the book she had and smiled slightly, this time for real. That would be just like Jack. If she wasn't causing mayhem, she was reading on how to cause mayhem that much more... chaotic. "Hey, Erm Jack.." She said suddenly, her voice tense. "Can I talk to you about something.." She didn't know if she could do this, but she had to. She had to get this out of her way, to see if Jack could go over to the side that had killed her family.

Jack heard her name an looked up to see Chase. Her heart skipped in guilt but she smiled nonetheless. She had nothing to feel guilty of...right? She smiled wider. "Hey-a, Chase. It may be reading, but it's devious reading." She held out the book. "Don't think I've gone soft." She chuckled when Chase asked about Nessie. "Nah, all booked up today. I have tea planned with him on Tuesday though."

Suddenly the atmosphere changed, like storm clouds rolling in. Jack's eyes even darted to the heavens, as though she could blame the clouds on the sudden tangible tension and awkwardness that was settling in. She had felt this before, when she had discussed...things... with Andrew. She did not like to revisit these conversations. But it looked like they were about to.

Chase said she wanted to ask Jack something and a flurry of emotions burbled upward in Jack; fear, guilt, shame, frustration, regret. What mess had she gotten herslef into. She should never have had a problem choosing between defending her friends and her rival. It should be simple...So why wasn't it? She did not even choose sides, but ended up defending both. But she had never discussed any of this with Chase.

She forced those emotions down, smiling casually as though she were only politely interested in what Chase was about to day and had any inkling what it was about. She had a good poker face. She nodded. "Sure."

Chase glanced at Jack and saw her almost visibly tense, and look at the sky. Her eyes wondered there too, and she scowled slightly. Her mind back to sitting in front of a peaceful fire, just as the servants left to defend their home. Chase glanced at Jack again and then bit her lower lip, chewing on it for a second she turned and looked at Jack again, opening her mouth, but no words came out. She closed her mouth again, and continued to chew on her lower lip for a second. How could she state this? How could you just bring something up like that.. to one of your very best friends?

But how could Jack do that to her? Befriend, and stay friends... with the man who had killed her entire family, out of boredom? How does anyone put up with, with someone like that.. Chase opened her mouth again, cleared her throat and said. "I was.. talking with Andrew the other day..." She said carefully, as though testing the waters with that sentence. Her eyes darted to Jack before continuing. "And he told me about one of your... erm.." Chase processed a few words before finally settling on "Friends.." She glanced at Jack again before turning her gaze to the sky, half expecting the skies to open up pour down on them again, but they kept their moisture in a bit longer.

"I don't know if I ever told you, but I've been jumping between friend's houses, because recently, a Death Eater stole my family away... after hurting my mother, he flooded my house, kissed me even.. has a thing for red heads I guess..." Chase took that moment to glance at Jack again. "Well, I walk talking to Andrew, and he finally told me his name, because the man never told me it you see..." She looked back up at the sky, as though trying to find meaning in them. "And he told me.. that you know him.. they call him Vito.. and he's a poltergeist.." She took a very deep breath and turned to look at Jack square on. "Are you really friends with someone so... so..." Chase searched for a word as though unable to find a horrible enough word to describe him. "So.. vile?!" Chase stared at Jack for a long moment, an odd piercing look in her gaze, as though trying to search Jack's soul through her eyes.

Jack stared straight forward in the silence, practically flinching as Chase chewed on her lip thoughtfully, turned and opened her mouth, and then closing it again. Jack, however, maintained her straight, blank expression. She was not giving anything away anymore. She couldn't. It hurt too much.

Finally, Chase began to talk and Jack felt her insides shriveling. So, they were finally at this topic. She closed her eyes briefly before opening them quickly. She was not sure Vito could count as a Death Eater since he did only what he wanted, but he definitely wasn't a good guy. When Chase said that Vito had a thing for redheads, her eye twitched slightly. She doubted that; maybe not in full. Vito had known her for a long time and the only time he had acted as though he were attracted to her was to piss her off.

Chase asked if Jack could really be friends with Vito and the way she said it made Jack realize that Chase was not as sue to terrible people as Jack was. Maybe she was, but Chase was still thoroughly convinced that there was all good and all bad, just as Jack had thought. Chase was innocent. Jack had been too, but she had her entire beliefs shaken.

Jack closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, before slowly opening her eyes. "I am not friends...with Vito. I don't think we could be called that. I'm more like...his-his guardian. Or something." She knew this was not helping at all but she did not know what to say. She had made a promise to Vito and to herself that she would not hate him and so far she had not given up. But would Chase understand that? "But we're not friends. I heard about what he did and I am so sorry, Chase. Vito is ill, and I'm trying to make him get better..." She swallowed, unsure if this was sounding better than she thought it did, because it still sounded pretty terrible to her.

"Ill.. right.." Chase heard herself saying, but her mind was whirring with thought, her head turned back to the sky again. A guardian, Jack, a guardian for something so horrible, so vile, so disgusting, and ruthless... Chase glanced at Jack before staring at the ground. "Everyone has good in them Jack, I used to believe that, a long long time ago, in a time that I can barely remember. I used to tell myself everyday that everyone has some sort of good, everyone can be changed, turned, made see the errors of their ways.." She said softly, her eyes closed now, her hands clenching the edge of the bench. "And then I was awakened quite ruthlessly.."

Chase felt her whole body start to shake hard. "I was attacked by not one death eater, but two, on the grounds of Hogwarts.." She said softly. "It probably wouldn't have been as bad as it was, had I not insisted that they had good in them, they may pretend to be good, may pretend to be all nice and loving.." She growled, her whole voice changing. "Then they torture you, and give you a scar that you can never forget.. multiple actually." she said slowly, and then she turned to face Jack.

"I don't know what you think of him Jack! I don't know what is going through you're head when it come to this.. thing. Maybe that there is good in him? I don't know! But there is nothing left in someone like him! I looked up what he is.. a poltergeist or whatever, they are created from hate, so how does that leave room for compassion and understanding, they exist because someone had so much hate in them..." She was shaking so hard tears were starting to blur her vision. "Jack, he can't be helped! You may feel like you're making a break through, or I don't know what is going on in your head with this man! This man who came to my house in the middle of the night, on a rainy day this summer, and thought it would be FUN, to kill my entire family, he probably hoped I had died too, but I didn't... and I was left, without a family, because he stepped into my life."

Chase was shaking so hard she stood up abruptly, and looked up at the sky. "Jack..." She said slowly and turned to face him. "Andrew doesn't know what is going on with you either, but have you stopped and thought about this at all? Have you even considered what this might do to you? What if he.. what if he attacks you or something? What if he hurts you Jack! People like him don't care if they hurt someone like you! You're only a teenager!" She sat down again, and looked at Jack, running her hand through her hair agitatedly. "Jack.. please, you have to stop talking to him! You have to get away from him while you still can! Before he goes after everything that is dear to you!" She felt a few tears leak down her cheeks as she looked at Jack, her eyes wide and staring, pain and hurt beyond her years looking at Jack instead of the mask of happiness that usually did.

Jack sighed closing her eyes. After Chase explained that she used to believe in the good in everyone, Jack opened her mouth, but Chase continued on to talk about how she was tortured. She said something about scars and Jack could not keep her hand from going up to brush the scar along her head that Nerezza had given her.

Again, Jack opened her mouth, but it seemed that Chase had tapped into apart of herself and now she could not keep the flow of words coming out of her mouth. She began to say that Vito had no hope and Jack closed her eyes. Sadly, she was thinking to herself one thing. Not true... She could not help it. She knew that while what Chase was saying was right, she was missing the point.

And then Chase began to plea with Jack to watch out and to sever ties with Vito. Again Jack closed her eyes, but she did not open them for the remainder or Chase's speech. She could not look at her. Chase was crying, earnestly begging Jack to not go back and help Vito. But Jack had already promised herself. Finally Jack opened her eyes and she began her speech slowly and cautiously.

"I used to believe in good and bad. That was it. If someone was bad, they had no good. I have learned it is not true. In everyone there is that seed. We are never fully one way or the other. I can't prove it to you. I just know.

"And I too have been tortured by Death Eaters, to the brink where it seems all goodness is ripped from the world. But that is when I look and I pity them, because there is a losing battle inside of them. Vito...is evil. He is created from hate. So he is not given any choice." She took a breath. "But I have seen him fight that." She stopped. She could not say any more. She had promised him.

She blinked once and said in a strained voice. "He is losing, most of the time. But I'm not helping him for him. I'm helping him so that people like you will never have to suffer again. He's going to...move..." She withheld the fact that he would be disappearing. No one needed to know that. "And perhaps if he could see what kindness and love was, he could take it with him and at least know what it looked like if he wanted to change."

She bit her lip and drew a steadying breath. "I'm not stupid. But I am determined. You guys don't need to worry about me. I know when to pick my battles...and honestly, it would not be too bad if I eventually lost." She stopped. She had not meant to say that. She quickly continued, "But I'm okay, and I'm sorry that happened to Chase and I'm doing what I can to avenge it."

Chase took a deep breath after Jack finished. "But Jackles.." She whispered but Jack kept going on. He was changing... yeah right. Chase glanced at her head, she had touched it earlier, and Chase started to wonder where it had come from. Looked like a pretty nasty scar, probably Nerezza's doing knowing her. "It's odd.. how our views were turned the other way due to experiences.." She said slowly. Her mind was working way to hard, and she wished it would stop.

Putting her hand on her forehead and rubbing her temples she put her elbow on her knee and leaned forward, her eyes closed, small tears still leaking out from behind her eyes. "I'm just worried Jack.. I don't want you to get hurt.." Chase looked up at her, and sighed slightly. "Jack.. if anything goes wrong with him.. please, tell me..." She said slowly. "You don't have to keep it all to yourself, I used to know a guy, who I thought was okay.. I thought he was the best person in the world, ended up him having just pretended that day..." She said softly. "Helped a Slytherin torture me.." She said softly. "Laughed at me and called me stupid, that's not something you forget easily, especially when the guy you are dating tries to save you, and he nearly kills him.." She said and wiped her eyes on her wrist.

"Jack.." She took a deep breath and then stopped and stood up. "I'm sorry... but.. I don't know what else to do! If you are seriously going to help HIM! Him.. I thought.. I thought I was your friend Jack.." She said and then turned around. Heading down the street, her hand running through her hair just as the first water droplets fell from the sky. A few at first, and then a torrent of rain, that made it hard to see three feet in front of you, and Jack was successfully blocked out behind her.

Jack had chosen to stick by the side of a man who had killed Chase's family, instead of realizing how much it was hurting her friend. And Chase didn't know what to do. Chase was her friend! And she was supporting this.. this lowly... THIEF! Life stealer, murderer, reaper of destruction and hate, born from hate, he would die in hate... there was nothing more to it. If you were bad, you were bad, and there was nothing to be done for you..

Jack shook her head and replied to Chase softly. "I know you are just worried. Everyone is always worried but you guys don't need to be okay? I have taken care of myself for a long time and I have not forgotten how, okay?" She smiled faintly and turned t Chase. Perhaps, it would all be okay now?

Suddenly Chase stood and began to voice what had probably been the thing she wanted to say this entire time. "I'm sorry... but.. I don't know what else to do! If you are seriously going to help HIM! Him.. I thought.. I thought I was your friend Jack.." Jack closed her eyes and jerked her head away as though she had bee slapped in the face. She felt as though she had been punched in the stomach.

That was not how it was at all. She was not siding with Vito because she thought he was right and Chase was wrong. If anything, she was so dedicated to helping him because he was wrong, he was evil. She had heard before to be kind to those who were unkind to everyone, because they were the ones that needed an example. She sighed stood up. It had begun to rain and her hair was drenched, hanging down in stringy matted strands.

When had this all started? Why did she put herself in places like this? She began to run in the direction Chase had, sloshing through water and splashing puddles until she was drenched to the knees. "Chase!" She looked around, her hair whipping her face. She saw a figure ahead. "Chase!"

Chase heard a voice behind her, but didn't stop, until she was right there. "What do you want Jaquellene?" Chase asked, her voice seriously different then what it usually was. No sorrow, or worry in it now. Now she had determined that Jack was out to help her enemy, help the man who had killed Chase's entire family. Chase turned away from Jack, rain pounding in her ears, it was so hard it was hard to believe that just moments ago it had been perfectly calm out, except for those clouds. Now it was so dark, and so loud, that it was hard to see even a foot in front of you.

Chase turned to look at Jack again, tears mingling with the rain now. "Jack.. I don't know what you're ideas are of this man, but I don't think I should be talking to you! For all I know he's taking you to the resting place of Ne'Os to bring him back to life so he can kill people again! Or even try to bring back You-Know-Who!" She could feel small sobs racking her body. Jack had always been one of her very closest friends.. and now this... "Jack.. just leave me alone!" She cried out, and took off down the street, her head bowed to an enormous wind, the rain lashing at her cheeks, stinging her face and arms, anything that was open the rain lashed out, and felt like she was burning in water.