"Didn't think you'd be the one to come look for me." Lacey said after looking over her shoulder when she heard a presence behind her. She had spent the last half hour looking out over the Hogwarts grounds from the top of the Astronomy Tower in an attempt to be alone with her racing thoughts. She used to go there during particularly difficult times whilst still at school, and she found it comforting now.

"Didn't think I would be either. But you've caused quite a stir downstairs and I thought I was the best person to help," Sirius said, joining Lacey as she leaned against the railing that separated her from the sparkling night sky.

"Not to be rude, but why did you think you could help?"

"I'm seemingly the only one of your friends who hasn't chosen a side in all this. Or, rather, I'm firmly Team Lacey and nothing else." Sirius laughed, his sharp, barking exhale cutting through the condensation clinging around the tower.

"I'm not sure I follow," Lacey frowned.

"Ginny, Hermione, Draco, Fred… they all wanted something out of tonight. I didn't. And I thought you having a neutral sounding board would be best, so talk to me," Sirius said.

"Sirius, I feel like everyone around me has gone mad. It's like there is this huge piece of me missing and everyone knows what it is but me." Lacey sighed.

"And do you have any idea what that missing piece may be?" He asked, and she thought for a moment, desperately trying to search her brain and chase around the missing memories that had been eluding her.

"It has something to do with Lucius Malfoy, doesn't it?" She asked, fearing the answer, and she watched as Sirius turned away from her and angled his face up to the stars.

"It does. And it's complicated, Lacey. No one is intentionally trying to keep anything from you. We all hoped you'd have your memories back right away and the decisions made not to tell you about certain things that have happened were made with the utmost care and respect for you," Sirius told her, looking up at his namesake star, "I personally didn't agree with keeping things from you. But I can understand their side of it."

"Who is 'they'?"

"Honestly? Everyone . Remus. Harry. The Weasleys…especially Fred. I think quite a few of them have been having a change of heart recently, though. Even Ginny is simply respecting his wishes, which is ridiculous, but I know she is doing it for you." Sirius admitted and Lacey felt even more confused.

"Lucius' wishes, you mean?"

"Sweetheart, my fiancée will murder me if I confirm that. I've said too much as it is. But if you want my advice, just talk to him. It is your life and your memories missing, not ours. So, if you want to know the truth, just go to the source. It will be faster than all this meddling Ginny and Draco are doing." Sirius winked at Lacey.

~o0o~

"So, you and Hermione?" Lacey asked her brother with a wicked grin on her face. She had decided to rejoin the ball with Sirius, finding the merriment of it all mostly unchanged. She had promised herself that she would try and appear unbothered and enjoy the rest of the evening, and it had mostly worked. Beyond ignoring Ginny's worried inquiries and surreptitiously looking around every so often to see if Draco and his father were still in attendance and coming up empty-handed, things felt as normal as she supposed they could.

She had shared a few dances and kisses with Fred, caught up with some former classmates, and had convinced her brother Colin to take her for a spin on the dance floor so that she could dive deeper into the kiss she had seen him share with Hermione while she had blazed a path to solitude earlier in the evening. Despite him being the eldest of the Delaney siblings, she found she was often very protective over him.

"It's new." Colin shared, knowing his sister wouldn't stop until she got answers.

"Clearly. When were you planning on telling me?"

"Eventually. If things don't work out, I didn't want to make a big deal over it." Colin admitted as he poorly attempted to spin his sister around in time with the others around them. They managed a half-turn and Lacey pummeled against his chest on the comeback, "So graceful."

"Shut up, you are leading," Lacey teased, "Hermione and I aren't very close, but I swear to Merlin if you hurt her, you'll answer to me. I won't have my brother giving the Delaneys a bad name."

"Understood," He nodded. She focused on him again, realizing she was missing two years of memories with her siblings and she had missed Colin with his easy manner and charming sense of humor.

"It makes sense, though. You and her. She likes older men," Lacey laughed. Colin wasn't that much older than she and her friends, being the same age as Charlie, but it was something all of the girls had ribbed Hermione about when she was with Remus.

"As do you, apparently!" Colin laughed.

"What do you mean? Fred is just a few years older than me…" Lacey rolled her eyes but then caught a look of embarrassment on her brother's face.

"Fred. Right . That going well?" Colin tried his best to change the subject and Lacey was about dig further into what was clearly her brother attempting to hide something from her when Ginny sidled up besides them, wrapping her arms around Lacey's waist.

"You've been avoiding me." Ginny stated and Colin took the moment of interruption to slip away before Lacey could stop him, "What did Sirius say to you?"

"Nothing really. I just needed some air as I was getting a headache and he convinced me the free flowing Simison Steaming Stout at the refreshment table was a worth it enough reason to stay and not end the night early. He knows it's my favorite," Lacey held onto her friend, leading her off of the dance floor. It was obvious Ginny was tipsy from her flushed cheeks and overly tactile presence with her best friend.

"I was watching you dancing with Lucius earlier and then you just disappeared!"

"Oh, were you watching me?" Lacey raised an eyebrow at the diminutive redhead. She wasn't thrilled with Ginny based on what Sirius had said. Everyone was deliberately keeping something from her and she and Ginny had always been completely honest with one another. The sudden secrecy didn't set well with her or what Lacey valued in their friendship.

"I was. What did you say to him? He left with Draco not long after you danced with him." Ginny said and Lacey had a feeling with the amount of spirits Ginny had partaken in, that it would be quite easy to convince her to come clean.

But Lacey was no longer interested in hearing versions of her story from others. She had a plan to get answers on her own. She just needed to confirm one thing with Ginny first.

"Oh, we had a fine conversation talking about Draco and Quidditch. Nothing spectacular. I was getting a strange headache, so I had to cut the dance short," Lacey half-truthed and ignored the suspicious look on Ginny's face, "But onto other business, it's almost midnight and that makes it the end of the night, technically. And if you recall, you promised that I would get to ask you one question at the end of tonight."

Ginny's face told Lacey that she had hoped Lacey would indeed not recall that promise.

"Tomorrow? I'm completely knackered…" Ginny looked desperately around for Sirius, and Lacey followed her eyes to see him in a very animated conversation with Narcissa and Remus, whom she hadn't noticed earlier.

"No. Tonight . You promised."

"Fine, one question, Lace."

"Was I in a serious relationship with someone who is not a Weasley or a Quidditch player at the time of my accident?" She phrased her question very carefully as she didn't want to leave some type of loophole for Ginny to take advantage of.

Ginny bit her lip and hesitated for a moment before eventually saying, "Yes, you were."

~o0o~

"Well, Lacey, you seem to have healed up perfectly. I can clear you to get back on the Quidditch pitch, and I'll see you back for another check-up in a month." Healer Woolsley, who had been treating Lacey since the accident, smiled warmly after putting his wand back in his robe pocket. He had done a few spells to check the healing progress of her internal injuries as well as her head and found everything was tracking well.

Lacey felt back to her normal self again physically and had been itching to get back on a broom. She just wished that every part of her felt as it used to.

Namely her brain.

"I've actually been getting headaches recently," Lacey said as Healer Woolsley finished marking on her medical chart, "And the briefest snippets of memories. I think they are memories, anyway. Is that to be expected?"

"I've never seen the amalgamation of spells before that were used on you, so I have no idea what to expect. But I still firmly believe your memories will come back with time. Just don't be disappointed if you make some progress and then regress. We'll keep an eye on it. It's still early in your recovery yet." He nodded and left the room to give her a few moments of privacy.

Lacey gathered her bag and slipped on her jumper over her shirt, a maroon one that Molly had knitted her years ago, before heading out of St. Mungo's. She couldn't wait to tell Puddlemere that she was clear to play again, but that milestone wasn't the only thing on her mind.

Pansy Parkinson's formal trial was coming up in a few days' time and while Harry and Ron had assured her that it was only a formality for sentencing and that Lacey wasn't required to be there, she wanted to go. She still didn't fully grasp why her former peer would do what she did, but wanted closure on it all the same.

But perhaps the most important thing on her mind were the strange events at the Hogwarts Ball. Lacey had feigned being under the weather for the last few days to avoid Ginny, Fred, and Draco and anyone else who she now knew had been keeping things from her. She wanted time to think and decide on her next steps without their influence.

Before heading back to her flat, Lacey stopped into Flourish and Blotts, thankful that the shop was nearly empty. She didn't often write letters and had long ago gone through the small stack of parchment scraps she kept on her tiny desk at home for when the need arose.

After thumbing through a few different types, she picked up and paid for a nice scroll of heavyweight ecru parchment and was upsold on a new quill by the shop attendant. Lacey normally wouldn't care about the appearance of her letters, but for what she was planning on sending, and to who, she felt she should put in some effort.

Once home, she sat down at her desk and opened the window above it, calling for her owl, Nikki, with a few fresh owl treats as an apology for not being the most attentive of keepers as of late. Nikki hopped from the sill onto her desk and watched as Lacey unfurled a half-foot of the parchment and began to write.

Dear Mr. Malfoy

"Dear? No, that is stupid…" Lacey mumbled to herself and crossed it out.

Lucius,

It was very nice to see you at the Hogwarts Ball. I apologize that I ran off

Lacey left large blot of ink on the parchment and cursed.

She sighed, removing the drafted messages and instead opting to forgo any awkward apologies and insincere niceties. She felt as if she should be open and direct with what she wanted, as Sirius had suggested.

Can we talk?

-Lacey Delaney

After sending Nikki off with the message to the man she felt held the key to all of her current confusion, Lacey distracted herself for the rest of the afternoon by digging into her stash of Acid Pops and started re-reading for the twentieth time her favorite muggle work of fiction, Pride & Prejudice.

She had barely started in on the third chapter when Nikki flew back into her flat and deposited what looked to be the same piece of parchment she had sent to Mr. Malfoy. After unfurling it, she observed that he had written his reply directly under her question in neat, masculine handwriting. Her stomach did a curious flip.

Tell me where and when you feel most comfortable and I would be most happy to.