HAPPY NEW YEAR! How many of you have kept your resolutions? *sees no hands raised* That's what I thought. LOL And that's why I don't make resolutions! Well, anyway, here's the next installment. I hope you enjoy!

"Teague, would you mind working a little late to get a head start on the Maguire case?" Soren asked Monday morning when he stopped by his employee's desk.

"No, Sir, I don't mind." A week ago, Lucius had been given a raise to go along with his extra responsibilities, and he'd been told that he might be asked to work extra hours periodically. "Should I work until a certain time or - "

"Just long enough to process the initial paperwork," Soren answered. "And how's the car?"

"Extremely helpful. Thank you again."

"You're welcome," Soren replied with a knowing smirk as he walked away. "I'm glad that you're enjoying it." In more ways than one, he thought as he headed for his office, remembering the little show that Lucius and Ginny had unknowingly put on for him. Soren anxiously hoped for another session in the backseat - or the front seat. He didn't really care where, as long as he could watch.

"This place is a right hames, isn't it, Shayla?" Madame Adair asked while Ginny sat at the small kitchen table, feeding Caelia.

The redhead looked around. There were some dishes on the stove left from last night's meal, some in the sink and a few random baby items scattered about, but she wouldn't have considered it a mess.

"I'll be more than happy to clean up a bit if you'd like," Ginny offered sincerely. "I don't mind."

Madame Adair's eyes twinkled with warmth when she smiled. "That's generous of you, really, but I believe that the time has come for some help on a more permanent basis. My husband and I talked about a maid before I had the baby, but we never looked into it. Now that I'm tending to my charities again, the house is suffering a bit and it's obvious that I could use some assistance."

"Will Mr. Adair hire someone for you?
She beamed with adoration. "Yes, thank goodness. I have such a wonderful husband."

Ginny set the empty bottle down and lifted Caelia to her shoulder for burping. "He does seem a bit smitten." The formal dining table always had a fresh arrangement of flowers, courtesy of Mr. Adair.

"He's my world," Madame Adair fawned, leaning over to kiss her daughter's head. "I'm off then. Namaarie."

"Namaarie," Ginny replied, still trying to get used to the old Irish language that lingered.

Per Soren's request, Lucius stayed late to work on the Maguire case. With new clients, there were quite a few forms to fill out initially, but that case looked like it might be more involved than previous ones, so he understood why Soren wanted to get a head start. And if working late periodically provided him more Muggle money as it had recently, he had no issue with it.

As he exited the building and walked across the empty parking lot to his vehicle, Lucius noticed a car towards the edge of the property. When he looked again, he saw Etainia sitting on the curb with her head in her hands and he was instantly concerned. Was she hurt? Had the ex boyfriend been involved? He looked around but saw no one.

Lucius quickly walked over to where she sat to check on her. "Etainia, are you all right?"

She looked up, startled by his voice. "Teague…I…s-sorry…it's just…one m-more thing…to g-go wrong," she sobbed, wiping tears. "My car won't s-start."

Lucius couldn't help her with that, unfortunately. He had no knowledge of engines and the inner workings of. "Have you called someone to repair it?"

"No, because my c-cell phone was on Ronan's plan and he t-turned it off," she cried, shaking her head. "Nothing is open n-now anyway."

"Can someone pick you up?"

"The b-battery is dead," she answered, waving the inoperable phone in the air. "And I don't have the n-numbers memorized." She wiped more tears from under her eyes. "Everything is g-going from bad to w-worse." She stood up. "I'm heading h-home. I just…I thought everyone w-was gone."

"How far away do you live?"

"Well, it t-takes me fifteen m-minutes in the car."

Lucius glanced at his vehicle. He couldn't very well leave her stranded there. "I'll drive you home. I'm heading out, anyway, and that sounds too far for you to walk."

"No," she refused, shaking her head. "Thank you, but you don't have to do that."

"It's all right," Lucius assured her. "Everyone else is gone and it's getting dark. You don't really want to walk all that way in the chilly night air, do you?"

Etainia hesitated, but then she acquiesced and followed him to his car. Her tears had stopped, but she was still visibly upset and kept her arms wrapped around her slender body.

The car ride was silent except for a sniffling Etainia giving him directions periodically. When they reached her flat, she said, "I'm sorry. I'm so used to Ronan always being there to help me. I'm horribly scarlet about this."

"Don't be. We all need help at some point in our lives," he assuaged. "Besides, your place wasn't that far. Will you be able to get to work tomorrow?"

Etainia nodded. "I'll ask Rebecca to pick me up," she replied, referring to one of the administrative assistants. "Teague, this was very nice of you. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied with a warm smile towards the distraught young lady. "Tomorrow will be better."

"I sure hope so. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

"Shayla, didn't you say that your wedding ring was a family heirloom?" Evie asked curiously as they waited for Lucius. They'd been sipping tea and, while she'd admired the ring previously, she hadn't said much about it. Today, it had caught her eye for some reason.

"It's been in Teague's family for years," Ginny answered proudly, remembering the moment that he'd given her the ring and how shocked she'd been at the gesture.

"Mum, did you get a good look at Shayla's wedding ring?" Evie asked as her mother sorted through a box of clothes that had been brought in earlier.

Glancing over at the girls, Veturia answered, "I can't say that I have."

"It's so detailed," Evie commented, turning Ginny's finger slightly as she studied it. "And the stone settings are very unique."

Having walked over to the counter where they were, Veturia slipped her glasses on and reached for Ginny's hand. When she looked closely at the ring, it took every ounce of self-control that she had to keep her jaw from dropping.

"You said that this has been in your husband's family?" Ginny nodded. "And they were from England, yes?" Ginny nodded again. Slipping her glasses off, Veturia commented, "That's a beautiful and very valuable ring, Shayla. You make sure to hold on to that." She wondered if it was truly the same ring that she'd seen so many years ago and she also wondered how this girl happened upon it. A phone call was in order when she returned home.

Ginny beamed. "It is beautiful," she agreed, holding out her hand to admire her ring. "I love it." She had never been so proud of a piece of jewelry. It was a reflection of so much more than their fictitious marriage. It symbolized love, yes, but it also symbolized her and Lucius' determination and perseverance to create a life together in a new world.

Veturia, still processing what she'd seen, busied herself in the shop while the girls continued chatting. A suspicion nagged the back part of her mind, and her suspicions were rarely wrong. She rearranged some items in a large display case nearby and pulled a certain piece out from its hiding spot.

"Evie, I just can't figure out where to put this," she commented casually, holding a small gold colored ball in the palm of her hand. "Do you have any ideas?"

Her daughter looked at her curiously, but then she replied, "I'm not sure either, Mum." She took it from Veturia and proceeded to look it over. "What about you, Shayla?"

Ginny's eyes enlarged, but she covered up her gasp with a cough. She knew exactly what it was, having chased many on the Quidditch field. "I've never seen anything like it," she lied, pretending to study it. "Where did it come from?" A knot was forming in the pit of her stomach as she gazed at the familiar item, and she wondered if there were other magical items that had been with it.

"Just a box of old things," Veturia answered with a shrug. "No one seems to know what it is. Evie thinks that it's some sort of toy."

Ginny nodded and hoped that they didn't see through her forced facade. "That would probably be my guess, as well," she agreed, relieved when Lucius walked in. "Darling, we were just talking about what a beautiful ring you gave me," she quickly commented, anxious to change the subject.

When Evie looked at her mother inquisitively, Veturia gave her the slightest nod.

"Can you hear me?" "Good. Listen, I think you need to make a trip to see me." "I'll tell you more when you get here." "You might need to do that. I'm not sure yet." "Let's just say that a snitch was recognized by a young lady wearing a ring that I recognize from many moons ago during our school days." "Yes, possibly. Call it a hunch, dear Cousin." "Okay. See you soon. Be careful."

"What's on your mind?"

Ginny looked at Lucius curiously as they headed home. "Nothing," she lied, trying to sound nonchalant. "Why?"

He smirked as he kept his eyes on the road. "Do you think me so witless? I've spent months joined at the hip with you. Something's bothering you."

Ginny sighed and looked out of the window at the countryside as it flew by. She knew she had to tell him. "Evie and Veturia have a golden snitch in their shop," she revealed.

Lucius thought that he had heard wrong as he stole a quick glance her way. "What did you say?"

"A snitch."

"A snitch?"

"Yes."

"As in Quidditch?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I was a Seeker and a Chaser," she reminded him. "I think I know what they look like."

"Where did it come from?"

"A box of old things, according to Veturia."

"You didn't say anything, did you?"

"Do you think me so witless?" she threw back at him sarcastically. "Of course not."

Lucius reminded himself that Ireland had a team and promptly brushed off the eerie sensation that wanted to settle in his gut. "It is not uncommon for magical items to occasionally find their way into the Muggle world," he stated calmly, though his heart rate had increased exponentially.

Ginny shrugged and looked back out of the window. "Maybe," she considered. "But it sure knocked me for a loop. I never thought that I'd ever come across anything from our world."

"Don't think on it," Lucius encouraged, hoping that she couldn't detect his incertitude. "It was just a coincidence." Funny thing was, he didn't believe in coincidences.

When Lucius passed by the front desk the next day at work, he asked Etainia, "Did you take your car to be repaired?"

"Yes," she answered. "I'm just waiting for them to call me and let me know what's wrong with it."

"Are you purchasing a new cell phone, as well?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Yes, I'll do that as soon as the car is done," Etainia replied. "I'm still so embarrassed about yesterday. The timing of everything was just too much."

"I understand. These things happen. I'm just glad that you didn't have to walk home."

"Me, too," she agreed as she twirled a golden lock of hair around her finger. "Hey…um…maybe I'll see you in the lunchroom later."

"Maybe," Lucius repeated with a polite smile before heading to his desk. He felt sympathy towards Etainia. Understandably, she was having a difficult time with recent life changes, and he remembered all too well how he'd reacted towards the catastrophic changes in his life. She was young, attractive and somewhat intelligent, from what he could tell. She'd soon forget the severity of her current situation and move onto a better one. He certainly had. And if he, a powerful wizard, could do it, any simple Muggle could.

Lucius was not surprised when Etainia showed up in the break room at lunchtime.

"May I?"

"Of course." He couldn't very well tell her no. "Hear about your car yet?"

She nodded as she joined him at the small table and pulled a salad from her bag. "Yes and thank goodness it's nothing serious. I'll pick it up after work."

"Good to hear."

"And I've decided to get a dog," she announced happily. "I'm going to look at some this weekend."

"Congratulations. That will certainly help you feel better." He'd had two Irish Wolfhounds at the manor, but he'd rarely spent time with them and regretted that now.

"I think so," Etainia agreed with a bright smile. "Thanks for the suggestion."

"Just trying to help."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," Madame Adair confirmed. "Take the day and enjoy yourself."

"Okay, I'll see you Friday then."

When she hung up the phone, Lucius asked, "You're not working tomorrow?"

"No. Madame Adair said that she will be staying at home and that I have the day off."

"You can join me for lunch then," Lucius suggested. "I haven't gone out in a while."

Ginny nodded. "Sounds good to me."

The next day after lunch with Lucius, Ginny decided to take the car and drive around for a bit instead of visiting the shop owners that she knew by name after her numerous sojourns inside their stores. She hadn't had time to herself with the vehicle and she was curious about the beautiful area.

After a few turns and a couple of bridges, Ginny ended up at a park with a trail that paralleled Donegal Bay. A nice walk by the water was just what she needed so she quickly parked the car. She inhaled the salty air and set off for the trail.

As she walked, the afternoon sun was warm against her skin, but when a canopy of towering trees enveloped the path, the increasing shade gave her a slight chill. She didn't mind, though. The occasional view of the bay through the brush was soothing to her. She wished that this inviting trail of trees and flowers was closer to her home so that she could frequent it more often.

Ginny noticed a clearing ahead and a bench with an engaging view of the water. When she reached it, she enthusiastically sat down and breathed deeply. She felt as if she could sit there for hours observing nature around her. The blue sky above her and the gentle breeze caressing her skin helped to settle her mind. She smiled as she listened to the birds chirp to each other. Yes, this was quite nice.

Ginny's thoughts easily wandered back to England, as they often did. She wondered what the Ministry was up to. With the perpetrator of the corruption having been destroyed, she hoped that they were running things fairly and trying to rebuild and repair what they could. She hoped that the staff at Hogwarts had been replenished after being depleted from the war, too. It was such a beautiful school. It would have been a shame if it could not have continued on as it had. She felt certain that it would if for no other reason than to serve as a memorial for all those who had lost their lives defending it. When she wondered if the remains of her home still stood or if they had been demolished, she decidedly pushed that thought away.

As she stared out over the bay, her current life in Ireland made it seem as if the first eighteen years had been a dream, or more accurately, a nightmare. There was some sort of mental detachment that caused her perception to be skewed when reminiscing about her past. In some twisted way, none of it seemed real. She knew part of that was because of the trauma from all of the horrific events of the past year and because she was no longer around all of the places that had been familiar to her. She didn't cry at the drop of a wand like she used to, but she was overcome with sadness often. She supposed she always would be.

Lucius and she had finally managed to get their lives settled down to some vague semblance of normal. It wasn't their kind of normal, but it was preferred over what they would have faced if in their world. While Ginny knew that she would have been honored as a survivor, she was not certain that Lucius would have been exonerated and, quite honestly, she would be lost without him.

Picturing Lucius made her smile. To think, not all that long ago she'd hated him. That amused her now. She loved him so much. They'd been to hell and back to get where they were, but the point was that they were there. They had a place to live, a vehicle, jobs and friends. It wasn't a magical life, except for a few wandless spells now and then, but it was a pretty good life overall.

"Shayla! What a gift this is!"

Startled, Ginny spun around. Her breath hitched in her throat and her stomach tightened as she remembered that she was alone in the park. Fuck, she thought. Of all the people to run into!

"Good afternoon, Mr. Noir," she greeted nervously. She noticed that a woman was with him and wondered who she was. Dressed in a business suit, Ginny assumed that she was some sort of work associate.

Soren turned towards the woman and reached for her hand to kiss. "Namaarie, Mellonamin," he addressed. "Tenna 'ento lye omenta."

The woman smiled and nodded once as she continued on the path alone.

Soren sauntered over to the bench where Ginny was sitting. "May I?"

"Of course." What else could she say?

He sat down beside her and reclined, resting an ankle on the opposite knee and extending his arms out along the top of the bench. Ginny couldn't help but notice that even in the middle of the vast expanse of nature, Soren's presence was still commanding. Now she knew how diminutive house elves must have felt standing beside giants because that was how she felt now sitting beside him.

"What a beautiful view," he commented, gazing out towards the bay. "I can see why you chose to take a dander through here."

Protectively crossing her legs and arms and sitting on the very edge of the bench, Ginny replied simply, "It is pretty." The dreams that she'd had about Soren flooded her mind and they made her nervous. While this was a public park, she'd only seen a few people since she'd arrived. She had been enjoying the tranquility, but now she just wanted to leave.

Soren turned his head to gaze at Ginny and allowed his eyes to travel up and down her body, instantly picturing her and Lucius in the backseat of his car again. He remembered how breathtaking she'd looked with her cheeks flushed in orgasmic bliss. He could still hear her guttural moans and breathless sighs as she'd been manually stimulated to climax, and those same vocal exclamations echoed inside his head every night while he stroked himself to completion. It was exquisite and he was shameless about his indulgence.

"Do you come here often?"

Ginny glanced at him and then back out to the bay. "My first time." As soon as she said it, she inwardly groaned. Damn, she thought as she rolled her eyes and looked away in embarrassment. Why don't I think before I speak?

Soren grinned at her innocent double entendre. "Well, I'm so glad that I could be present for your first time," he teased, noticing the pink that colored her cheeks. "Are you always this bashful, Shayla?" She was really very innocent and endearing when he wasn't picturing her in the throes of passion.

Ginny was surprised by his question. "Sometimes," she answered, fidgeting where she sat. "Sometimes not."

Like when you're in the backseat perhaps, Soren thought naughtily. "But why are you bashful around me?" he asked boldly. "There's no reason to be."

Ginny's arms tightened around her frame. "I don't know you," she answered truthfully. Nor do I want to, she added in her head.

"You could get to know me," he suggested with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I'd like to think that I'm a fairly affable kind of fella."

"You've been…very generous to me and my husband," Ginny remarked as she stood. "Please excuse me, but I must be going." She was afraid that she would be sick if she sat there much longer. She needed to leave and quickly.

"Forgive me, Shayla," Soren apologized, feigning remorse. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"I'm sure I'll be seeing you again soon, Mr. Noir. Enjoy the beautiful day."

As she turned to walk away, Ginny didn't see the slight wave of his hand or the large, knotted tree root on the ground. Her toe caught on it and she was sent tumbling to the ground with a shriek.

"Shayla!" Soren called out as he rushed over to where she'd fallen. "Are you all right?"

Ginny's eyes brimmed with tears as she grabbed her right ankle. Dammit! Why hadn't she looked where she was going?

"It's a sprain," she groaned, wincing from the throbbing pain that was shooting up her leg. Ginny recognized it immediately. She'd suffered quite a few ankle sprains from playing Quidditch, but thanks to Madame Pomfrey, she'd never had to wait for them to heal. This time, she'd have no choice.

"It looks like it's swelling already," Soren noticed. "Do you need to see a doctor?"

"No," Ginny refused, struggling to get up. "Just some ice."

"Here, I'll help you -"

"No," she repeated and attempted to hobble away. Unfortunately, she couldn't put any weight on her foot and started hopping. She knew that she looked positively ridiculous, but she wanted away from him bad enough that she didn't care. She could hop to the car. No problem.

"Shayla, please let me help," he insisted, walking beside of her. When she lost her balance mid-hop and almost fell again, Soren immediately picked her up in his arms and ignored her protests. "Honestly. Your stubbornness is going to cause you to injure your other ankle."

Not only was Ginny in serious pain, but now she was mortified. Soren was carrying her as if she were a child. As he held her snugly against his chest, she was overpowered by the scent of his cologne, which, much to her dismay, smelled of roasted coffee, spice and musk. It was intoxicating and her body betrayed her by breathing deeply. Damn you, she chastised herself. You're not going to find anything pleasurable about this. You're not.

"Will you be able to drive?" he asked as they neared the parking lot.

Ginny longed to say yes, but since it was her right foot, she knew that she wouldn't be able to safely. She briefly considered trying to use just her left foot, but she wasn't comfortable enough with the car for that. "I don't think so," she answered dejectedly, unable to look at him. How did she get herself into these messes? Damn tree roots.

"Very well then." Soren was thoroughly enjoying holding her in his arms and he took his time walking to her vehicle. He briefly imagined carrying her to his bed that way, but he promptly pushed the thought aside. For now. "I'll drive your car back to work so that Teague can get you home."

They approached the car and, after Ginny retrieved her keys, Soren helped her into the passenger side. She was horribly embarrassed at hurting herself to the point that she couldn't walk. Of all the days for that to happen. Of course, if he hadn't been there, what would she have done? Hopped all the way to the car? Then what? What if she'd gotten into an accident trying to drive with a sprained right foot? She sighed. Ginny hated to admit it, but she was thankful that Soren had been there to help her. Damn, she thought. That can't be a good sign.

When they reached the office after a quiet car ride, Soren instructed, "You wait here. I'll go get Teague and send you both home so he can get some ice onto that sprain."

Ginny desperately wanted to hate him, but she couldn't. For the first time, she'd been thankful for his presence.

"Thanks for your help, Mr. Noir." She offered a meek smile.

A victorious grin spread across his face as he recognized the white flag of truce waving in her eyes. "It was my pleasure. And remember, call me Soren."

Ten minutes later, Lucius got in the car. "Are you all right?" he asked concerned. Soren had explained what happened and had given him the rest of the day off to take care of her.

"It's sprained," Ginny told him dolefully. "And very painful."

Lucius drove out of the parking lot and glanced at her. "Were his actions towards you in any way inappropriate? I can't believe that you ended up in the same bloody park." It was an odd coincidence and, of course, he didn't believe in those, so he was a little alarmed.

Ginny shook her head. "No, his actions weren't inappropriate." Truth be known, she was more disgusted with herself than Soren, and that was a first. His cologne made her want to curl up around him like a blanket so that she could continually breathe in his scent. When he'd held her, she felt like she'd weighed nothing, which naturally made her wonder about the size of his arms. She'd never seen them bare, but she assumed that they must be fairly strong and muscular to have handled her with such ease. She'd realized that she was fantasizing about how his upper body might look and had immediately wanted to slap herself. No, Soren had not been inappropriate, but her thoughts of him after the fact sure were.

"I know a spell that Narcissa taught me when Draco sprained his ankle as a young child," Lucius suggested. "It couldn't hurt to try it."

"All right," Ginny agreed absentmindedly, trying to ignore the repulsive fact that she'd actually liked being held in Soren's arms. Oh, this is very bad, she thought. Certainly nothing good will come from enjoying being that close to him. "I'll have to call Madame Adair and tell her that I'll be unavailable for a few days."

"I'm sure she'll understand," Lucius assured Ginny. "In fact, I bet she shows up in the next couple of days with food."

"That would be nice," she commented, not looking forward to being stuck at home again for a week or more. Damn being clumsy! And damn Soren for smelling so good!

Namaarie - farewell

Hames - mess

Scarlet - embarrassed

Gift - excellent, unexpected surprise

Dander - a leisurely stroll

Fella - guy

Mellonamin - my friend

Tenna 'ento lye omenta - until next we meet

And if you head over to my blog page (clickie on my profile link to find), I've got 1 picture for this chapter. I've also updated the poll question. Thanks as always for reading. I'd hug every one of you if I could! Also, a continuous thanks to LazyChestnut for being a fabulous beta!