Lucius sat in the first row of the trial chamber in the bowels of the Ministry of Magic, impassively watching others trickle in. Despite his nerves, he steeled his expression into something he hoped made him look rather bored.
He was surprised that Pansy's sentencing had been opened up to the public, although he supposed due to the spectacle of what she had caused, the London wizarding community wanted justice served in a way they could witness. He also knew that Lacey's celebrity brought another layer of intrigue. Rita Skeeter had already arrived with a wide-eyed assistant and several Quick Quotes Quills hovering around her. A representative from every other major wizarding news outlet was also already present.
Which was while it was all the more important that he schooled his features. His son had given him warning that Lacey was planning on attending and the anticipation of seeing her again was almost too much for him.
Especially after her letter.
After she had left him on the dance floor at the Hogwarts Ball, he had fled back to the comfort of the manor to dissect the evening in solitude and pen a quick, apologetic note to Aislinn regarding his abominable behavior when the poor girl was only trying to help.
He hadn't been as kind with Draco, though, who had followed him home, and Lucius made it very clear that he hadn't appreciated being surprised like that. He didn't like being backed into a corner — never had — and with Lacey in his arms, everything had felt so raw. Particularly the moment he thought she had remembered their first meeting.
Hope had flared inside of him for the first time in months, and then it had been dashed away. He childishly blamed Draco and his ex-wife for luring him into a situation where he was bound to be disappointed.
But then he had received correspondence from her three days prior to the trial stating that she wanted to speak with him. He remembered the exact moment her owl had tapped on the glass of his bedroom window as he had been attempting to sleep off far too many drams of firewhiskey. Lucius couldn't think of another time where he had moved so quickly to write her back.
It had buoyed him. She wanted to see him, to talk to him. She wasn't afraid of him, he presumed, and hopefully didn't hate him.
Lucius hadn't had a drink in three days as he wanted to be his best for when they met. He also hadn't told anyone that she had reached out while he patiently awaited a reply, but none had come.
And now he felt himself slowly returning to feeling sulky and depressed. He figured she had gotten cold feet about meeting him and changed her mind. He wondered if he just should have stayed in France long-term and avoided all of this unpleasantness.
The seats around Lucius started to fill and then the energy changed in the dark, cavernous room. He followed everyone's stares and saw Lacey enter the trial room, flanked by an enormous group of people including his son and what looked to be the entirety of Puddlemere United. He didn't bother to count the staggering number of Weasleys that seemed to be with her, but did note that one she was presumably dating kept himself towards the back of the group, nowhere near her.
As the group found their seats, he trained his eyes on Lacey, trying to discern anything about how she was feeling. She looked well, just as beautiful as she had at the Ball, and seemed in decent enough spirits considering the occasion. Lucius watched as Ginny leaned close to her on her left side and made a lewd gesture to Skeeter who was being far too invasive with her camera, and how Draco, on her right side, reached for her hand.
Lucius knew his son had no romantic interest in Lacey, but it still deeply bothered him that he wasn't the one by her side to comfort her. He also knew Skeeter and the rest of the press would conflate the simple gesture.
"Order! Order!" Harry Potter's voice rang out through the trial chamber and the anticipatory chatter settled as the sentencing began. Ron Weasley, alongside two other Aurors, led Pansy out to a chair in the middle of the floor, her hands magically bound.
Lucius hardly recognized the woman he once thought himself in love with, and now felt nothing but pure hatred for her. He chanced a glance over to Lacey who only had a confused, slightly sad look on her face.
But of course she would, she had no memory of what Pansy did nor did she understand her intentions. Lucius has worked hard to make sure the details of the case remained private, and was deeply appreciative towards Harry and the rest of the Auror department for supporting that. As it stood, the motive of the crime was sold as Pansy's deep jealousy of Lacey's Quidditch success and friendship with Draco as well as prejudice against her blood-status. While none of those factors were untrue, Lucius wanted to make sure that their relationship wasn't the subject of scrutiny in all of this.
He didn't want idiotic Prophet fluff pieces hurting her or her career or causing her any worry. What Pansy had done was unforgivable regardless of motive and he didn't want to drag Lacey into a narrative with him when it was something she didn't remember.
"Pansy Parkinson, you have been brought here today to be sentenced for your severe crimes against Lacey Delaney, which include tampering with a magical object in an attempt to cause harm, use of dark spells and curses, obstructing justice, and attempted murder. You have already been found guilty of these crimes in a separate hearing and questioning." Harry began and Lucius once again looked to Lacey and found her expressionless this time.
Lucius had also had assurances from the Auror department that there would be no testimony given by anyone, including Pansy, and that the sentencing would be quick and decisive, having already been worked out behind the scenes with Minister Shacklebolt.
So, he was very surprised that Pansy used the short, quiet moment before Harry delivered the official sentence to yell out.
"Fuck you, half-blood bitch. And go to hell, Lucius." Pansy cried out before struggling against her magical bonds and spitting in the direction of the audience, her eyes boring right into Lucius'.
Harry cast a quick silencing charm on her, but the crowd was already teeming with shock and questions. Lucius watched how many turned to see Lacey's reaction, while others turned quizzical gazes to him, trying to work out his involvement in it all.
"Enough!" Harry tried his best to get the crowd back under control, "Pansy Parkinson, you are hereby sentenced to seven years in Azkaban, after which time you will be eligible for a re-trial."
It was said quickly and decisively, and as soon as the sentence was delivered, Pansy was taken out of the room, headed to Azkaban, and Harry dismissed the spectators. Lucius stood up, wanting to exit quickly, while still keeping his eyes on Lacey, who was being enveloped by her friend group in an attempt to stop any of the reporters from trying to get a comment out of her.
He watched as they led her out of the trial chamber, but several times she turned back to look at him, her eyes searching his for answers that he so badly wanted to give her.
~o0o~
Two days later, his eyes were locked with Lacey's again, but this time she was sitting five feet away from him in his study at the manor.
"And?" Lacey prompted him to continue. They had been in conversation for nearly three hours and he had long since blown past what he thought were his emotional limits.
"And this was told to me by Ginny, because I wasn't awake, but you found the engagement ring I intended to give you, took off in the middle of the night out of fear I would be angry with you, and the next time I saw you was at the game. So we've come full circle," Lucius sighed, and with a quick flick of his wand he refilled both their glasses of firewhiskey.
"You were going to propose to me? In Paris?"
"Yes. I've never had a plan spoiled so spectacularly." He tried to lighten the mood with a smile, but he could tell by the look on her face that Lacey was incredibly overwhelmed. After all, she had just learned everything.
A day prior she had finally written back to him saying that she wanted to meet him at the manor and he had replied with apparition coordinates and a time. When she had arrived earlier that afternoon, she had demanded he tell her everything, saying that things had been kept from her for far too long.
She also wanted to understand Pansy's reaction in the trial chambers, which he completely understood. However, it didn't make walking back through their relationship any easier for him as she had alternated between gaping at him throughout the retelling and gulping down firewhiskey as if her life had depended on it.
He had glossed over the more intimate moments of the last few months, but had been extremely clear with her where the two of them had stood at the time of her accident.
"Thank you, Lucius. For telling me all of this when no one else will. It couldn't have been easy." She offered him a smile and he was grateful for it. As bizarre as the afternoon with her had been, he was thankful for the time near her nonetheless
"You deserve to know and I apologize for keeping it from you. I thought you would be far better off rebuilding your life without me in it."
"Well it sounds like I had a rather exciting life with you in it." Lacey said, "Do you think I would have said yes? To the proposal?"
Lucius looked over the woman he was still so in love with and considered his words carefully. He didn't want to scare her away, but he also wanted to be as honest as possible, "I believe you would have. Especially if things hadn't been so complicated with Narcissa and Remus. But I think we would have worked everything out after the match and I daresay you and I would be planning a wedding right now. We were truly very happy together, Lacey. I know it is hard to believe."
"It is and it isn't." Lacey uncrossed her legs and shifted in the high-backed chair, "My brain, which is still operating on two years ago, is screaming at me that I shouldn't even be in this room with you. But there is another part of me that feels very comfortable around you. That understands everything you've told me and is somehow not surprised."
"Progress, I suppose." Lucius remarked, trying tamp down his happiness at her statement. The situation was still incredibly delicate, "How are you feeling about all of this?"
Lacey let her head loll back and she laughed. A deep laugh that he could tell started in the pit of her stomach and was highly infectious. It tugged at his lips as he watched her devolve into giggles, "Merlin, fuck, isn't this strange?"
"Very."
"I don't know, I don't know…" she struggled to catch her breath and then turned serious, "I guess I'm just sad I don't remember."
"Didn't the Healers say you'd eventually regain your memories?"
"Eventually. Maybe." Lacey shrugged, and for the first time during their conversation, he saw more than a hint of sadness in her eyes.
"Well," Lucius steepled his fingers, "I'm honestly quite famished. Could I tempt you to stay for dinner before you go home?"
"Yes!" Lacey answered more enthusiastically than he expected, "I actually have a few more questions for you."
Lucius stood up. The shadows in his study had changed dramatically as afternoon had shifted into evening, "How could I say no to more questions?"
"Lead the way, Mr…I mean, Lucius." She caught herself from being overly formal and he walked with her down to the dining room.
~o0o~
Lucius smirked as Mipsy, for what seemed like the twentieth time during the course of dinner, fawned over Lacey. Every time his elf entered the room with more wine or food, she lost her little mind. He had spoken with Mipsy after Lacey's accident and told her to not expect Lacey's presence in the manor any longer so the creature was ecstatic at the change of events.
"Mipsy is glad Miss Lacey is back!" Mipsy beamed before dissaparating, leaving Lucius and Lacey alone again and nearing the end of their meal.
"I apologize. She's very happy to see you but I'll let her know not to expect your presence regularly," Lucius said, looking over Lacey's relaxed demeanor and pretty flush from a bit too much wine.
"You never know. Stranger things have happened." She mused, "So…what have you been doing since…"
She gestured with her arms in a way Lucius took to mean 'the accident' and he reached for his glass of wine, surprised she hadn't asked earlier.
"Oh, well I worked with the Ministry to track down Pansy first. And then I spent some time in France. Officially divorced Narcissa…" Lucius recounted, careful to not share that he had spent the majority of his time despondent over losing her.
"Right… and how do you feel about Remus? I'm still getting used to it myself."
"Truthfully?" Lucius paused to think about it, "I was surprised at first. But I suppose it has been quite a long time coming to an end for Narcissa and I. There is peace in it."
"And how does she feel about me?" Lacey cocked her head to the side in curiosity, "Or…I guess, how did she feel about me?"
"Grateful to you. You should absolutely know that. She grew very fond of you is what she told me. I'm sure she thinks you are far better than I deserved," he laughed and enjoyed the way her laughter filled the room again and mixed with his. He had missed that sound.
"You know, I can't quite pin you down, Lucius. I had no idea you were actually capable of laughter."
"It wouldn't be the first time I've watched you struggle to decipher your opinion of me." He noted. "But in your presence I am more than capable of a great many things, laughter among them."
"Seemed that last time my opinion leaned in your favor in the end."
"I'd certainly say it did."
