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It had been two years of training and somehow in all of it they still hadn’t taught Alice how to deal with special receptions. Sipping on a glass of white wine she kept her back against the wall, eyes surveying everything around her for not only possible threats but also for stupid men who might want to try and chat her up. Alice wasn’t a chat up type of girl and the slightly predatory look in her eyes said so. Of course right now she felt like a wounded rabbit, wearing black heels and a slinky tight black cocktail dress that according the shoppe keeper and her best friend, fit her in all the right places. Alice’s long blonde hair was down, much longer now than it had been when she was at Hogwarts and it lay in soft rich waves, framing around her face and sliding down to her mid shoulder. A lot had changed since she had graduated and the awkward tomboy had been replaced by a woman and one that could kick your ass if she really needed to. It was a deadly combination and Alice banked on it when she had the chance.

There was a year left in training but at the rate she was going she would be finished in the next six months. She was a talented witch and what she lacked in sheer strength and size she made up for in casting and agility. Along with her body, her relationships had changed and she was going on her 8th month of being single. The Ministry had taken its toll on her relationship with Frank and though working with him could be a little hard at times, they had both agreed that for now at least, it was for the best to be apart. He was one of the top Aurors and spent more time off fighting than he ever did in London. In fact she would have killed for him to have been at the reception that night but he was off doing god knows what in god knows where. She sighed, toying with her earring, crossing one ankle over the other. At least this was only going on for another 2 hours right?

At first Alice didn’t recognize the slight sized man in front of her. Maybe it was because he too had changed or perhaps she had simply blocked it all out of her memory as best she could. Whatever the case, when Alice finally realized that she was staring directly at Lucius Malfoy, it took everything she had not to react. She was torn between several conflicting emotions not the least of which was to kill him on the spot. Alice swallowed hard, a hand coming to rest against the base of her neck. He had tried so very hard to ruin her and as ashamed as she was to say it, had gotten far closer to his goal than he realized. Sure she had trashed talked right back at him but that was how she coped with things. She had spent over an hour in that bathroom the day he raped her, crying and throwing up and doing it all over again until she couldn’t anymore. Alice had been unable to tell anyone, and the secret of what happened burned through her, making her withdrawn and solemn. She put everything she had into quidditch because it gave her a way to channel the aggression and then fed that same aggression into Aurora training. It had hurt her relationship with Frank because she could never get over feeling like she was used goods when she had wanted it to be just with him. She hated Lucius Malfoy but she also hated herself for letting it happen and then for not being brave enough to speak out. She had wanted the job too much and had sacrificed what? Everything? Her integrity, her sense of self worth and her innocence even? Sometimes she wondered if it were even worth it.

But there was more. So much more that she didn’t even admit to herself. Like how much she enjoyed the burn of the leather against her skin, and how triumphant she felt to see that she had truly infuriated him. She wondered what kind of a monster that made her? And now there he was, standing there unassuming and she could have her revenge. Alice walked over towards him, getting a full glass and knowing she was going to need it. “Hello,” she told the man he was talking to and then gave Lucius a saucy smile. She doubted he had any idea who she was and she intended to keep it that way. For now.