Alec was at his usual place, taking and eying the women at the dance floor. He deduced each one. For example the blond over there, really a brunette you could tell from the roots she was desperately trying to make up as high lights, the make up was heavy and she was gone too far, he could tell that from the smudging. Too messy, not his type.

Second, another blonde, too tight of a dress, seemed a bit like she was single, as she wore flats instead of heels to this place, and her hair being in a simply ponytail that did nothing to her face. She kept looking at him, but he wasn't going to dirty his suit with that.

If he was honest to himself he preferred brunettes, they were prettier and came in a variety of styles.

"Like cars" he commented to himself smirking.

He took a long sip of his firewhiskey and sat waiting for someone to catch his interests.

Victoria walked into the bar, curious of what she'd find. She'd never really been to a club before, only drinking around campfires. Tess had mentioned this place in passing and she'd decided to give it a shot. Though maybe not the best place to go looking for yourself, eh?

She walked over to the bar, trying not to be self conscious. Her hair was never an issue, she'd been lucky in that department. But she knew her taste in cloths was not. She'd found a cute one in a London goth shop that was mostly a corset on top, with a tight fitting skirt all in emerald. As she took a seat high on a stool, she hoped it wasn't too revealing.

Ordering a firewhisky, she sighed. To be honest, she wasn't really sure why she was here. She didn't know anyone, and she wasn't looking to know anyone. She just didn't want to sit in that hotel anymore. It was taking longer than she'd thought to find a decent flat and it was driving her mad. She'd been so relieved to get out and see Tess the other day, that she jumped at the idea of just being around people for a few hours. Even if no one talked to her.

She took a long drink, hissing at the burn of it.

Oh a brunette, wasn't that charming he thought with a grin.

From what he could tell, she was not from this scene. What had caught his interests wasn't exactly her brown hair, though it was very lovely as it framed her pink cheeks. No, what had caught his interests was her clothing. The emerald skirt, the shortness, yet decency of it was what caught his interest, perhaps it was his old Slytherin self to do that. Her corset, reminded him of indecent things. What could have been an indecent clothing, was seen perfectly decent by the way she held herself. She looked out of place, and it wasn't as if her clothing was vulgar considering, based on the other women she was being very conservative.

Firewhiskey he added to his notes.

Firewhiskey and a women meant someone wallowing with emotions or some sort of anger. He hoped it was the latter for he hated women crying all over him. But by her dry eyes, he knew that perhaps he had the perfect entertainment for the night.

Walking over, he sat beside her and turned to the bartender.

"The usual" he simply said and the bartender immediately started with the drinks.

Turning to face her, he gracefully placed his elbows on the bar table and turned to her.

"Rough day?" he asked.

Victoria had just ordered herself a second round when she felt someone approach and take the seat next to her. She envied the ease in which he ordered a drink. She wished she could be that confident in a place. To feel at ease with oneself and the world. She never knew why, but Victoria only ever felt truly at ease with Tess, who knew everything about her.

Lost in her thoughts, it took her a second to realize that the man was talking to her. Focusing on the wall of alcohol behind the bar, trying to decide what to order next, she smirked. "How about bad year?" She didn't regret the whole year, but the end of it was a big enough disaster to ruin most of what came before.

She sighed and looked over at the man, and tried not to let her thoughts show on her face. Oh...my... Was he good looking. Most guys looked fake in suits, but his looked like a second skin. Sleek and sharp. Which pretty much described the rest of him. While his hair looked soft to the touch, it was his eyes that fascinated her most. They looked so honest, yet she got the feeling that he was putting up a shield with their beauty.

Deciding to give interaction a try, she smiled a little. "And what about you? What brings a handsome man to this lonely side of the club?"

Well she wasn't as shy as he suspected, which brought a smirk on his face. A bad year huh? Well he could relate to that, everyone he figured had a bad year at one point of their lives. His was right out of Hogwarts where he had no idea what he wanted to do and he traveled.

Still at her comment he chuckled. Usually he would just fake a laugh, but her sharp comment and the way she drank the firewhiskey, smooth, much like her bachelor buddies caught his interest. She was much more than he deduced.

Once he caught her staring, he let out a slick smile, his eyes bright with mirth at how she observed him. He knew he was good-looking, and for that reason his self-esteem had never taken a hit. But rather than preen at her admiration, he studied her. Her cheeks were a bit pink, he figured from the strong sting of the drink, and her surprise meant that she wasn't used to looking at men like him.

Well isn't that benefitial he thought.

"Handsome? Thank you" he said noticing the compliment.

She wanted to flirt, why not, he'd show her how to properly flirt.

"Oh you know, here for a drink like everyone else....admiring the beauty around me" he trailed off as she looked at her from her toes up to her face and smirked. "I'm Alec."

Victoria about spit out her drink. She swallowed it slowly instead, staring at him hard. No...it can't be. While a part of her started to feel all warm and tingly from his obviously visual journey, or maybe that was the liquor, it didn't override the sobering idea that came after.

She turned to face him dead on and took a good look. Brunette? Yes. Though this man's hair had much more depth of color. That doesn't mean anything... Some facial features could be thought to resemble Tess's. But they'd all been so young when she'd last seen him. Especially since he'd gone off on his own after graduating, which meant she hadn't seen him much after she was 14.

But the eyes. Same color, sure. She forced herself to stop the analysis. It was probably just the alcohol making her paranoid. Matching his smirk with equal laziness, she replied. "Victoria."

She thought she'd do a little loaded questioning. "So...Alec...has your girlfriend gone off to powder her nose?" She tried to look innocent in her questioning.

Alec smirked at the name. Victoria; it definitely sounded like a confident women, and by the looks of it a woman who was not shy to look at him straight in the eye. So she wasn't the coy girl he once expected but it didn't mean he would lose any interest. In fact her blatant staring made him simply feel more confident about himself.

She looked familiar, but he figured that he had seen his fair share of brunette's throughout his life. He had never really been with a Victoria before, so it would be bonus points for him. The smirk made him raise his brows and his smirk wider.

Her question made him chuckle again and he straightened his tie, and took a long sip of his drink, for anticipation before turning to her once more. Leaning over, she smirked.

"No girlfriend" he replied lowering his tone.

And playing along with her little game he added.

"What kind of boyfriend would let a woman like you be here alone?"

Victoria was surprised to see a new glint in his eyes. Like a cat that had caught a mouse in a trap. Well I'm no mouse. She knew she wasn't as good at this kind of scene as others. But she would not be a simple conquest to some random bloke.

But she had to admit, she loved his smirk. Most people looked like total gits when they smirked. But his was so natural it was charming. She loved it...and wanted to smack it off his face at the same time. Her stomach did something funny when he admitted to having no girlfriend, though she'd highly doubted he would. Not a player like him.

At his comment her smile fell a little. She snorted softly. "No boyfriend." She shot him a look. "But even if there was one, who says he would get to let me do anything, eh?"

She caught the last bit a little later. "A woman like me?"

Alec grinned at her snort. She wasn't used to this, but it worked for him. It was as if he was sixteen all over again, flirting with a Ravenclaw because of her innocence. But that glint in her eye perhaps told him that she was onto his game but wanted to play along with it. Who was he to judge? After all she had started the game by asking about his 'girlfriend'. Inwardly he was laughing at the thought; last time he had a girlfriend was when he was fourteen and when he thought he didn't have a shot at anyone else. Well that soon changed when he became a seeker and then they fell for him. Ever since then, he was free as a bird.

"Well aren't you a vixen" he purred at her comment.

She wanted to show that she was a woman who got what she wanted and was very experienced in this situation. It was cute, especially since a real woman who had experience in getting picked up at a club would not snort. Still, he didn't mind it.

"Yes a woman like you" he said looking her once over. "A beautiful woman who catches a man's eye with that skirt, and keeps him reeled in with a smirk."

Victoria felt a blush creep up her neck at his calling her a vixen. That wasn't a word she ever heard used for herself. It made her smile for real, her tongue caught between her teeth. She loved the way he was talking, all smooth and silky. She still wasn't sure what was the liquor and what was real. But right now, she decided she didn't care.

Signalling for another round, one that she planned on taking a little slower, she couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. Bronn had been the only love in her life and even he never talked to her like that. Like he actually paid attention to her. It made her feel analyzed. Like her skin was crawling, but in a good way. "So you came over here to say hello to my skirt, eh?"

She looked around, seeing other patrons dancing and generally having a good time. For the second time tonight, she felt envy. "I'm newly back in town. What do people do around here for fun?" She knew her acting wasn't working. She wasn't the experienced club-goer. So she figured she'd go for honest.

Alec found himself genuinely laughing at her comment. She was witty, and she loved being flirty and flirted too. He genuinely enjoyed it, especially her blush, it suited her nicely, and her cheeky grin, well didn't that raise some pitter patter that he never expected. He figured it was because of the conquest.

"Come now, do you really think that I only came for the skirt? I wanted to say hello to your skirt and others bits" he replied playfully.

Another round, well that was fine. He signaled the waiter wanting the usual brandy, and turned back to see her.

"Fun? Well other than that, they go on dates,and enjoy the clubs as well. The nightlife is great, but it depends on how adventurous you are." he replied grinning.

A girl that wasn't from here? Well that peaked his interests and leaned closer.

"Now, where were you from?"

Victoria cleared her throat. She was thinking new thoughts about this skirt. And here I thought the corset was the scandalous part! She knew she'd always been slim, but never really saw herself as a catch. Especially at the dragon camp. Most of the guys there just saw her as a younger sister. Or teased her in a way that she knew was only joking.

While this man's words seemed superficial, something in his eyes made it seem just honest enough. She couldn't help but laughing at his ordering brandy. It made her think of old men in a sitting room talking about politics and world trade. Boring! Something she didn't associate with...Alec...at all.

She loved his mention of adventure. It was her middle name. But she figured she'd come back to that later. "Well I went to school at Hogwarts. But since then I've been working with the dragons up in Wales." She took a smaller sip of her drink, the bite only slightly there since it was her third? fourth? "What do you do?"

Ah, not used to too many compliments he deduced in his head.

He wondered exactly why she wouldn't receive any compliments. She was young, pretty, and had a wit about her, charming really. Still, perhaps it was a male dominated world she was in and was oblivious. Still by the way she held herself, they treated her as their own.

Dragons? He let out a boyish grin at that. Now that was interesting. He really liked that.

"Dragons? Fascinating I loved dragons as a child. Went a year to Bulgaria to adventure."

He wondered why he even told her that, after all, that wasn't usually a tactic to get a woman. Perhaps it was because she was entertaining, and he was genuinely amused.

"Who didn't go to Hogwarts" he asked. "Went their, long time ago, Slytherin. Now I'm a business man, working on gadgets for the British government both Muggle and Magical. And I'm an Auror"

He took pride in his work, and he wasn't about to preen it more.

Victoria was surprised at the way Alec seemed to relax at the mention of dragons. Well...relax and perk up at the same time. It looked like he was letting go of something. She couldn't help but smile back at his enthusiasm. "Yeah, they're pretty amazing. I formed a really close bond with one. But a friend's watching over her now." She couldn't help but miss Cyreen. And Craig too, for that matter. He had been like the big brother she'd never had.

She was almost disappointed when he started in on his big important job. It made her want to walk out the door at first. Victoria had always hated people that put so much stock in their title, instead of things that mattered. But she was pleasantly surprised to hear he was an Auror as well. That wasn't a job entered into lightly. It made her think...

Trying to sound serious enough to be taken, well, seriously, but not too much to spoil the fun of their conversation, she asked, "An Auror, eh? Where can a girl sign up?"

She'd been thinking it over since Tess had offered for her to stay at her place. Victoria didn't want to live off of her friend's hospitality. Not because she thought she was above it, but because she wanted to be an equal partner in their living situation. It had taken over a week for her to narrow down to a few options what she wanted to do for a living now.

Shyly looking at Alec over the rim of her glass, she couldn't help but notice how bright his eyes got when he seemed to be honestly smiling. Her stomach did the little flipping motion again.

Alec nodded as she talked about dragons and her bonds with them. He personally never had that bond, but it had taken him forever for them to respect him enough to let him ride. He had to admit it was a real life changing moment when he was in the skies. That year after graduation, was what really molded him into what he wanted to do.

His job was a form of intimidation, he knew that, but he really believed that his job was a part of him. Now, why he wanted to show a bit of his personal life was a curious feeling. Usually he would be as vague as possible to bring in intrigue, but he figured it was a slip and he wouldn't do it again.

Her question though, surprised him. Usually he would just keep the playful attitude, but as he kept drinking, he began to let his mind muddle a bit. Still, he shrugged lazily.

"OWL grades from 7th years, then they test your knowledge of law, and the level of spells you know."

Victoria shut her eyes tightly. She'd tried to slow down on the drinking, but it didn't seem to be working. As she opened them, Alec seemed to be radiating light. A part of her mind knew it was the drinking, but another just thought it was beautiful.

Sad to hear that she may have missed her chance at a career filled with adventure, she sighed. Leaning into him closely to whisper in his ear, she tried to sound slightly seductive. The idea that the one job she really wanted now could be out of her reach made her more wreckless. "I'm sure a man like you could pull a few strings for a woman like me."

She pulled back, but not before making sure that their cheeks touched on the way. She smirked at him. "I don't want to be a complete leech to Tess forever. She's my roomie." She bit her lip, feeling the liquor taking hold and burning low in her stomach.

Alec, felt his whole body automatically lean forward towards her. She wasn't necessarily short, after all, she was tall and lithe, just his type. He raised his brow at her comment and let out a lazy smile.

"I'm sure that I could do something for a gal like you" he purred.

His whole body language changed as she mentioned the name 'Tess'. Well wasn't that name a mood downer. Honestly with his baby sister in his head he couldn't really want to shag anyone now did he. He wrinkled his nose, a trait he shared with the lady in question and looked at her curiously.

"Tess?" he asked hoping they weren't thinking of the same woma-girl, no Tess was a girl, a little girl, that squirt sister of his.

Victoria caught Alec's nose wrinkle and wondered if he'd forgotten deodorant or something. She was sure she hadn't, so turned to pouting when his mood changed so suddenly. He almost reminded her of Tess with that nose wrinkle too. Funny...

She sloppily waved her hand, trying to wave away whatever bad thoughts were troubling him. It probably didn't look too graceful, but oh well. "Yeah. She's my best mate. Tess Black. Works over at the hospital."

She let her hand move to his on the bar, drawing delicate patterns on the back of it. "Why? Know 'er?"

Alec was in the middle of taking another sip, this time being firewhiskey as she was replying. She was talking about this 'Tess' as if it was nothing, so he drank his second favorite drink calmly, that is until he heard the girl's surname.

He felt his throat constrict and he felt the burning become twofold. Tess Black?! Oh Merlin his baby sister. The little squirt that always found a way to make everything and argument?!

Her best mate he repeated her phrase all over again.

Oh god, he turned to look at her and he finally remembered. Victoria Rossmund? He wrinkled his nose thinking, and instead of the beautiful woman in front of him with the wicked legs, he saw the tall fourteen year old who made his baby sister run off somewhere. Or looking for things in their mansion. Oh god he felt so old at the moment.

"Rossmund?" he rasped out once he got his voice back.

Victoria watched him drink the firewhisky, surprised at the change in drink choice. When her finger had traveled to his wrist she felt him go rigid. She looked at his face and saw strange emotions playing across it.

Confusion? Shock? Fear? Anger? She couldn't understand it all. Especially when he looked at her like he was searching for something. She couldn't believe it when he said her name.

She drew her hand back, fear momentarily gripping her. For a fleeting moment she feared he was a german agent, coming to kill her on Bronn's behalf. The room started to spin again. "Yeah," she breathed. "Do I know you?"

"Merlin" he said aloud.

Alec placed the drink down and took in a shaky breath. Well this was definitely going to start an argument with Tess. Honestly, what are the chances that the woman he was trying to shag was actually someone from his very bland past. It was karma, that was his decision, life was screwing him over for it's own amusement.

"Tess is my uh.....baby sister." he said uncomfortably as he tried not to look at her all over again.

Well she had definitely grown he thought to himself unsure.

"I'm Alec Black, I met you when you were with the squirt" he added despite the fact that he was stating the obvious.

Well this is all the more awkward because of how shaggable she is he thought forlornly.

Part of Victoria was relieved that Alec wasn't a German spy.

Only part. The rest of her was trying not to cry from the unfairness. She had come here looking for an escape. A simple one night shag to take care of a natural necessity. And it was going so perfectly!!! Until he had to go and screw it up!

Turning towards the bar with a scowl on her face, he took another shot, wanting to forget this whole thing. "Well, long time no see." She tried not to look at him. She'd started getting attached and that wasn't good. No matter who he was.

"Forget I was here." She tossed a small stack of money on the bar for her...she didn't remember how many drinks, and started walking towards the door. She knew it wouldn't be a classy exit, what with so many dancing couples crowding her route.

Alec picked up another drink, ignoring the small shake on his hand as he took a drink. He really wanted to forget that it happened, oh this was so uncomfortable. How many times had he ignored her, or been a neglectful prick. Oh god she's just a kid, he felt that he needed to stop drinking.

"Right...you've grown" he said wincing at how the drinks were hitting him to where he was out of character.

He hadn't noticed that she left until she threw the money. Turning to see her, he noticed that she was stumbling and was less graceful than usual.

"Put it on my tab" he told the bartender as he followed after her.

He wanted to be near her, it was not normal, despite the fact she was so close to his baby sister. Hell she was closer than he'd ever been to Tess. He needed to do the right thing, despite the fact that he would not be getting shagged that night.

"Wait" he called out.

Grabbing her lightly he placed his arm around her waist, and before she could protest, he apparated the pair towards Tess' apartment. He never expected to be here at any part of the night, but there he was dropping off the supposed mysterious brunette, to his sibling's home.

Victoria could feel bodies brush up against her. She'd made it half way across the dance floor before she stopped, hoping the room would stop spinning. She felt an arm around her waist and thought it was a stranger trying to get frisky.

Hoping to forget the past twenty minutes, she leaned back into the stranger, lacing her fingers through his. She closed her eyes and nuzzled her nose in his neck behind her. It wasn't until she felt grass around her feet that she realized he'd apparated them. He must be good, she thought, cause she hadn't felt a thing.

She knew it was wreckless, not questioning a stranger apparating her away. But in this moment she didn't care. For a few, sweet, pain-free minutes, she forgot what had brought her back to London. When Alec had destroyed that atmosphere it all came crashing down. The pain. The deception. The lies.

Closing her eyes, throwing caution to the wind, she turned around and grabbed what she hoped was the man's face. She didn't bother looking at him, since it really didn't matter who he was right now, and kissed him soundly.

Be a gentleman he repeated to himself over and over again. He didn't want to scar an already rocky relationship with his baby sister. If she ever found out, she'd hex him to high heaven and he never wanted to destroy his relationship with her completely.

Alec forced back a shiver as he felt her nuzzle his neck, her breath making the hair at the back of his head stand, and his own breath hitching slightly at how she pressed her body against his. The alcohol was hitting her harder than she expected, figures. He gripped her waist a bit tighter, but walked her towards the door.

But the moment she kissed him his control flew out of the window. He was supposed to be a good person, but honestly the way she kissed, it made him forget his manners. His hands slipped down to her waist and he gripped her hips tightly throwing all his inhibitions away in that kiss, he kissed her lasciviously. He forced himself to pull back as he realized that he had pressed her against the door.

"Merlin you're great at this" he groaned.

He pressed his forehead against her and took in a sharp breath. He lightened his grip on her lovely hips and that wicked skirt, to get some neurons to work up there.

"And if you weren't so sloshed right now I'd be shagging you in my penthouse. But for some reason...for some reason I'll be the good guy for once. I hope it pays off"

Kissing her forehead he trailed kisses down to her lips lightly giving her a peck.

"See you around Rossmund, Merlin knows I'll try to see you around"

And with that he disapparated before he changed his mind and did something even stupider.