Maybe Today You Could Put The Past Away...

(cringes from angry admins... Sorry we promise to return to main thread, but this drama will just add too much confusion to it.)

Jack stood a hundred feet or so away from the party, staring at it as though attempting to bolster her courage for it. Did she really want to do this to herself? She had been through a lot lately, and she was not in a people mood, but perhaps this was just the thing to get her mind back on to the pointless things in life and away from all the worries that were slowly chipping away at her sanity.

She had heard this was a formal event and she had been rather put out by the fact, yet she had tried her hardest to dress in a less-ragamuffin way then usual. Unfortunately, Jack really had no idea how to do that and she felt uncomfortable enough in a dress. The dress that her uncle had been kind enough to procure for her was a black, thigh-length dress... It was a nice gesture really, but she hated wearing it. So she had pulled on some pajama bottoms under her dress, totally aware that she looked like a dufus but not minding that at all. Now she was comfortable. She did not have her knapsack on, but she had on her usual muddy sneakers to top off the outfit.

This drastic change in dress might have turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Any person who knew Jack would see a hint of a dress and not even look to see if it was her. Though the muddy sneakers and frazzled red hair were still somewhat of a dead giveaway.

Overall the general idea of the look was to keep Jack comfortable while not sacrificing her pride. If she pretended hard enough, she could fool herself into thinking she was just wearing and overlong shirt.

She sighed and walked towards the party, deciding that she had not put herself through the torture of wearing a dress just to stare at the party from afar. No, no, no... This party had better get her mind off of things if she had done that. Otherwise, she would be severely...displeased.

She slipped into the meadow where the party was situated and glanced around, glad that she had pulled on the pajama pants, no matter how “uncool” it may be. The grass probably would have gotten irritating after awhile. She glanced around and saw the food. She instantly veered towards it.

One of Jack's many un-ladylike qualities was her bottomless appetite. She could eat...and eat...and eat... and eat a little more. She loved food so she never passed up the opportunity to eat. Luckily, she stayed fit with Quidditch practice, her various adventures, and her pretty fast metabolism.

She hurried over to the food and grabbed a plate. She filled it full of all of the random finger foods and goodies that you expect to find at a party such as this. She carefully filled some punch to the brim of a cup before turning and heading for an empty table, balancing the precarious, over-filled plate and cup.

She set them down and slipped into a seat and began to eat, more slowly than usual because she had yet to find a reason to mingle or do, well, anything. She glanced across to where people were dancing and saw a few of the boys gone stag glance her way. One had the nerve to motion towards her, but one rude gesture was enough to tell him that she was not interested in dancing.

Partying with the Ministry of Magic, now that, was a new one. Vito smirked as he pulled his tie through the loop he had made, staring into the newly repaired mirror- yes, it had been quite a shock when Vito had returned to his bedroom to see that Chase Moor had smashed his mirror, leaving a drop or two of her blood on the shattered glass- before him, perfecting his appearance before he left his bedroom.

Why was Vito Dee Symons going to a Ministry party? He couldn’t lock himself in his club forever- well, actually he could do anything he wanted to, but that sounded rather boring to him- and had decided that a party would do him good. His smirk widened into a grin, his teeth glittering back at him from the reflective glass. Well, finding the clothes for the party certainly hadn’t been a difficult task considering the way he dressed everyday, his wardrobe being made up completely of the finest clothing his money could buy him. He adjusted the front of his vest before turning on his heal and heading out the door of his room, and down the stairs.

The club was just beginning to fill, Vito noticed, which meant that the sun was probably just going down. He nodded to himself and headed over to the bar, “Just a glass,” he told the bartended, expecting him to have already memorized what drinks he enjoyed during what times of the day; they had, after all, been working around each other for as long as Satin’s had been a successful club, which had been something around twenty years. The bartender nodded and poured the other man his drink, “Do you need a car?” the bartender asked in a bored tone of voice, as usual, amusing Vito without meaning to, “Yes,” Vito answered simply. He took his glass of wine in his hand and walked towards the door, his nose pointed in the direction of the ceiling.

Vito stepped out onto the street, the front door of his club swinging shut behind him, watching as his method of transportation pulled up along the sidewalk just a few feet away from him. “Mr. Symons,” the driver greeted, stepping out of the front seat in order to open the passenger door for Vito, as he was paid to. “Yes, yes,” Vito replied halfheartedly and walked around the car, sliding into his seat, bringing the rim of his glass to his lips.

-

“Well this should be entertaining,” Vito spoke to himself with a grin as he stepped out of the car and stepped up onto the sidewalk without caring enough to shut the car door behind him. It hadn’t taken long for them to arrive, but he could tell by the amount of people who had already arrived that he was – fashionably- late, which he, of course, didn’t mind at all. He held his drink in his right hand, his right arm bent and pinned to his side, and walked forward, one expensive shoe placed on the ground in front of the other. He was slightly displeased to find that they the party was being held outside- Vito wasn’t very fond of the bugs that infested the evening air- but he was in a somewhat pleasant mood, and was determined to keep it that way, for in his mind, the evening was all about him- for some strange reason that didn’t make much sense if he thought about it long enough.

After walking slowly up the stairs, Vito stepped into the crowd, blades of grass being pinned to the ground beneath his shoes, and though he was surrounded by many people, both young and old, he was fairly easy to spot amongst them- which he, of course, noticed for himself with a smirk, bringing his glass of wine to his lips once more.

Jack was not enjoying herself already. She did not like any of the people there and she had a feeling that if she attempted to lighten the mood with a prank or something, someone would mistake it as a threat on the minister's life or something, and Jack really did not need to add any issues like that to her life right now.

She stared across the dance floor and saw smiling, laughing, dancing people and she rolled her eyes. They were all idiots, every last one of them. She did not understand how they could all be so happy right now.

And then she remembered. It was only her that had had a completely terrible summer... Well her, Vito, Andrew, and Chase. They had not exactly had the time of their lives.. Though she was supposed to be in good waters with them, but she felt like she could not get past the things that had happened to be able to allow herself to be their friend. But maybe tonight would be their reconciliation...

She looked up across the dance floor and she felt her heart drop and her stomach seize madly. Andrew, with his arm around Chase as she pulled him onto the dance floor.

Oh...So they were dating. That would have been excellent news...had Jack heard about it. From the look of them, this was not a new development either. She felt her eyes turn to stone as an exhaustion settled onto her. An exhaustion and exasperation with life. What had she done? When had everything decided to blow up in her face. She guessed it was sort of funny- for most of the summer she had been trying to figure out what was going on with Vito and was comfortable with how she was with her friends... After her last trip to Satin's and after today it seemed that had flipped.

No...she had guessed wrong. That was not that funny.

With a sigh she rested her arms on the table and slammed her head onto them, not really wanting to have to deal with facing the party.

“Move. Move. Move,” Vito ordered, shoving his way through the ground, knocking into several people with his shoulder in order to make all those who wouldn’t listen to him, move out of the way anyway. This, of course, amused Vito greatly, but he made sure to keep his expression the same with a smirk and a mysterious look in his eyes in order to avoid any irritating questions or trouble. Even if there weren’t nearly as many people there as Vito had expected, it certainly took a lot to make his way through the crowd of people on the dance floor.

He was surprised by how many students were actually there; sure, he had expected a few, what with it being a party open to the public- if you weren’t a muggle, that was –but when he actually stopped to pay attention to his surroundings for a moment, he noticed that there were in fact, more students there at the party than adults.

Vito rolled his eyes. He had expected more from the Minister; sure there was a bar and the place looked pretty high-class, but if he had been aiming for something impressive, he probably should have made better decisions on who exactly he was allowing to attend the party.

Sure, the children could spend their parents’ money on the clothing that was necessary to appear sophisticated, but after everything was said and done, they were still just a bunch of angsty teenagers.

And the amusing thing about such a thought was that, as he had been judging the overall style of the guests, Vito’s eyes had landed on one young female redhead who looked as if she had rolled out of bed and pulled a dress on over her pajamas before arriving for the party. He swallowed another mouthful of his drink and walked towards the girl and the table she was sitting at. She had never looked so out of place, Vito noticed, and wondered why it was so difficult for the girl to dress nicely.

“You really should let me dress you next time you plan on attending a party such as this one, redhead; you destroyed that gown,” Vito mocked her once he was sure that he was close enough for her to hear her, before sitting down at the same table, only, facing the opposite direction in order to watch the party guests dance to the music that was playing.

Jack heard an all to familiar voice and her forehead crinkled as she let out a long, deep sigh before tilting her head upwards to peer over her arm at the person who had just sat down at the table. Her vision confirmed it; it had only taken Vito Dee Symons five or so minutes to track her down.

She could not tell whether or not she was irritated or relieved to see him. She had grown used to the irritation he brought, and it did not help that she was already in a bad mood and rather uncomfortable. She did not need him to point out just how awkward she looked; she already felt awkward enough.

On the other hand, here was some one who probably would agree that they were stuck in a gaggle of idiots who really had no reason to exist. That knowledge actually made her feel a lot better and almost cheered her up slightly. And it helped that they were actually on good terms since their last meeting.

She allowed herself to smile seeing as he was looking away. She raised her head and said, "Yeah well, what can you do. I cannot imagine any lifetime or universe in which I would willingly dress in a way that you would call acceptable." She smirked back at him, knowing that he had a high taste for clothes whereas she thought that as long as every thing was covered, she would be fine. "I would not have ever expected to see you here." She raised an eyebrow.

“I got bored,” Vito replied with a dramatic sigh, as if it were the end of the world- though he did it intentionally… or did he? It was always rather hard to tell with Vito. He rested his back up against the table, having sat down backwards in his chair in order to watch the people before him, “Though upon deciding to come here I had had more… appealing guests in mind. Has the Minister no friends? Because to be perfectly honest it looks more like a teenager’s party than the Ministry’s,” Vito complained, though his tone sounded more accusing than whiney.

“I’d expect more from someone with so much power,” Vito added. He had always been rather sour towards the Minister; being as power-hungry as Vito was, it was almost as if he wanted the job for himself- though, being who he was, he would probably just claim London as his own and do nothing for the people who lived there.

Vito set his glass down in his lap, still holding the rim loosely in his fingers to keep it from falling over and spilling wine all over his expensive clothing, “Well”- Vito looked at Jack with an expression on his face that was both mocking and appeared as if he were daring her- “How about you dance instead of sitting here stuffing your face with food that probably tastes like shit,” he asked, flicking one eyebrow upwards, “that is, if you can manage without tripping over that ridiculous outfit out yours,” he added, holding a hand out for her to take.

Everything was a game with Vito Dee Symons, and if it wasn’t, it was a challenge.

Jack chuckled at his very dramatic answer. Though Jack could be very simple, she was also very dramatic in her own ways to. Everything needed a little flair to make life all the more interesting. Otherwise, everything was just that- boring.

She grimaced at his words and nodded. "You are right, though. All I've seen are the same hormone-crazed, brain-dead, foolish teenagers that I've had to deal with all my life and then will have to bear for the next whole year." She rolled her eyes, irritation positively dripping from her words and her expression.

It was true. Jack did not have any sort of problem with the minister, but she had been a little disappointed. She had been at least expecting to see some of the old Order members. She had been hoping to get a chance to ask them what was the plan, the problem, or whatever. Or maybe someone with power who she could talk to. Or someone at least with more interesting conversation then classes and lip gloss.

At Vito's mention of dancing, she again rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Me. Dancing. That is totally something that would happen. Because you know just how much I loooove to dance." The sarcasm was more than obvious in her voice.

But Vito was determined to challenge her. She stared back at him and his hand. It was always a critical decision in these sort of situations with him; either deny the challenge and prove him right, or take the dare and prove him wrong. The latter held more profits, but more consequences too.

But she was after all Jack Dyllan, and he was Vito. And when it came right down to it, neither of them could pass up a challenge. Had that trait not been the one that caused them so much trouble all year? Her face unreadable and her eyebrow still raised, she took his hand and said, "I hope you have strong feet. They are going to be hurting with as much as I'll be stepping on them."

A smirk crawled onto Vito’s face slowly; she just couldn’t say no- though that was because of her inability to turn down a challenge, and had nothing to do with his sex appeal, but that was a fact that could be easily overlooked when you were Vito Dee Symons. He curled his fingers around her wrist and pulled her too her feet- maybe a little too quickly, because he could feel a couple of her joints pop when he did so, which amused him- and combed his dark brown hair out of his face with his other hand.

“Oh poor Jack, she is so different from her peers, and always feels left out,” Vito snickered, making his way over to the dance floor, walking backwards so that he could look at Jack when he was speaking she could look at him while he was speaking. She really was making it too easy for him to mock her; it was almost as if she was putting an effort into giving him plenty of opportunities for him to insult her.

Oh, so it was one of those lucky days again- it had been quite long since Vito had had a lucky day, and it felt rather good- one of those days where everything seemed to come naturally for him, or, more than usual; he didn’t have to try to look good, or feel like he was on top of the world. Yes, it had been much too long since the last good day; since the last time he had felt so good- and he had only had a small glass of wine.

Vito’s smirk slowly transformed into a smile, “I will admit though, you are right about these children being unintelligent; I remember when I attended Hogwarts to get my creator kicked out, and It had always been extremely easy for me to take advantage of the other students,” Vito agreed honestly, as if even him agreeing had to be insulting in one way or another. “Oh, and if you ruin my shoes by stepping on them repeatedly, I’ll make you pay for them; these are my favorites,” he threatened her- though his grin hadn’t left his face- placing one hand just bellow her shoulder blade, and the other in her hand, holding her arm up slightly and out to the side.

He had gotten into position easily, and it was clear that he had taken dance lessons at one point in his ‘life’- which was to be expected from someone who was so obsessed with appearing impressive. Vito stepped forward so that there were only a few inches in-between them and smirked mockingly down at her.

Jack was very glad she had worn her sneakers, because Vito practically yanked her out of her seat, and had she been wearing heels she most definitely would have toppled right over onto her face. She rolled her eyes and said, "Antsy, are we?" She smirked, knowing he was probably just being his usual self.

He walked backwards so that he was perfectly capable of teasing her and she sneered at his words before pulling on a very dramatic, tragic expression. "Oh yes. All my life, all I've ever strove for was the acceptance of my peers, and yet I've always fallen up short! Why me?" she fake lamented, causing a few people to glance her way.

She was in that sort of mood. She was irritable, so her humor was less quick witted and more centered on entertaining herself. Hell, if the people here would not do so, she would have to. And that was exactly what she was achieving with her little performance, even if it was obvious to everyone around her that she was mocking them.

Vito's smirk seemed to shift slightly as he began to agree with her and she nodded knowingly, tapping a finger to her forehead. "Exactly." She flung her hand back down to her side and rolled her eyes. "I have no idea how I survived." She grinned; even though this was, in part, true she would never proclaim it so melodramatically unless she was messing around.

He quickly adjusted to the way they were supposed to be standing and took on e of her hands in his... Well, that took care of one of them. Jack hand hovered to his waist, before she remembered that was usually where the guy put their hand...but his was at her back. She quickly put her hand up to his shoulder, guessing that it seemed right but having no idea for sure.

And that, kids, is why you don't become a hermit.

She smirked at his comment, glancing down at both of their shoes; her sneakers and his fancy ones. The difference was not only drastic, but completely hilarious. She chuckled, "Whatever you say." Her eyes turned up to see him smirking down at her, and her eyebrows raised to match him. He stepped even closer and she could not help but let a quizzical expression run across her face fleetingly before she resumed her own defiant, stare. "What are you up to?" she said.

“Nothing, Jack, I just enjoy watching you get all suspicious,” Vito replied simply, pausing for a moment to listen to the music that was playing in order to figure out what beat he would be dancing to. “Nope, wrong, move this hand down a bit more,” Vito corrected her, shrugging the hand that she had placed on his shoulder down a bit so that her hand was at his right upper arm.

He enjoyed being right, and the fact that she obviously didn’t know what she was doing really did add on to that satisfaction.

The intro of the song ended and the singer’s voice started up, the beat quickening somewhat, “This should be entertaining…” Vito spoke before stepping forward with his left foot, expecting Jack to step back with her right foot- though, at the same time, expecting her not to get it right, so as he had stated, it would be a rather amusing dance routine.

Vito could still taste the wine he had swallowed on his tongue, and couldn’t deny the craving for more alcohol that he felt burning in his chest, but he would not be having any more to drink; unlike his club, Vito couldn’t do anything he wanted, and drink as much as he desired, or, at least, not if he wanted to keep his reputation the way it was. Sure, that was a rather irritating feeling; knowing that he wasn’t in full control as long as he was out at a public party, but he had come for entertainment and a good time, and those thoughts had to be pushed out of his ears in order for him to have that good time he wanted to have, and to continue to feel entertained.

“Did I tell you about the fire that your friend started the other evening? Hmmm, no, I don’t think I did,” Vito spoke in a fake, thoughtful voice; he knew full well that he hadn’t spoken about Andrew with Jack already, but felt that it was the easiest way for him to bring it up. He was still furious about it, and had to keep in mind that he was surrounded by people with powerful, Ministry parents in order to keep his anger locked up within him- besides, it was a lucky day, he didn’t want to ruin it with anger towards a teenager who felt the need to seem heroic. “I had it all cleaned up in a few hours; couldn’t even tell that the whole place had been lit on fire when you spent the night, eh?” Vito continued, eyeing her in a way that made his curiosity as to how she would react, quite obvious.