A/N: Thank you for the reviews and kind words! They mean so much, and I hope you continue to enjoy this story! Lyrics from "How to Be a Heartbreaker" by Marina and the Diamonds.

~o0o~

Rule Number One, is that you've got to have fun. But baby when you're done, you gotta be the first to run.

"Calm down Lacey," Sirius whispered to the girl on his arm when he heard her breath quicken by his ear. With her heels adding to her already tall stature, she was eye level with him and just short of hyperventilating as they walked up the steps to Kingsley Shacklebolt's manor.

"I haven't been in a dress in three years, Sirius," Lacey replied snappishly, although her dress was the least of her worries. Sirius handed the man at the door his invitation and they were ushered into the large foyer of the manor. Apparently, Shacklebolt had done quite well for himself since becoming Minister of Magic after the war. Sirius seemed quite familiar with the layout of the place and gently guided her to the left, taking two glasses of something frothy off of a tray and handing one to her. Lacey downed it in one swallow.

"Classy," Sirius laughed and Lacey snorted, which then made him raise an eyebrow as he desperately tried not to dissolve into even more laughter.

"Fucking twit," Lacey grumbled under her breath at him. One more catch of Sirius' eyes reminded her that they were being watched. She straightened her back and tried to look like she was having a good time. Of course they were bombarded with numerous couples asking if Sirius was finally settling down. Despite Lacey vehemently telling the strangers that she would never, ever settle down with Sirius Black, he was a bit more polite and introduced her as a good friend.

It took a while for them to find anyone else they knew well, as the manor was full of people in cocktail attire, chatting about Quidditch (Lacey was recognized a few times and had her fair share of condolences about the Harpies) and politics (Sirius was constantly asked if he was going to take the rumored offer of Head of the Auror Department). When they finally escaped the boring and invasive questions from who's-who in the wizarding world, they found Ginny with her friend Colin Dennison, Keeper of the Chudley Cannons.

"I haven't seen either of them," Ginny said, stepping away from her date as he and Sirius fell quickly into a conversation about last week's match.

"Ginny, I don't know what to do. I feel so out of place here…"

"So do I, Colin's being nice and all, but it's hard to not have Sirius when I see Harry snogging some blonde in the corner of the ballroom," Ginny's face was strained. She was trying so hard to keep a pleasant smile on her face, but Lacey knew it must still hurt. She put a hand on her friends' shoulder.

"You can have him back, trust me, we hardly get along…" Lacey tried to make her feel better and managed to coax a smile out of her best friend when a familiar voice interrupted the group.

"Gin! Oh, heya Sirius!" Ron Weasley, one arm around his new bride Luna Lovegood and the other holding a plate full of food, burst into their circle. As Luna said her 'hello's', he joined Sirius and Colin's conversation for a moment before heading over to Lacey. He gave her a light kiss on the cheek and asked when she could start in the office.

"Oh, you are serious then?"

"Yeah, you are my little sister's best mate, Mum loves you, my brothers love you, why not? It'd be a hell of a lot better to have someone I can actually talk to. Come in Monday at 9, alright?" Ron asked excitedly.

"Thank you so much," Lacey beamed. One thing down, she checked off in her head mentally, now to find Mr. Malfoy.

~o0o~

Lucius Malfoy looked utterly bored as he stood next to his wife in the ballroom that had been transfigured to hold upwards of three hundred people for the occasion. Narcissa was making small talk with one of his coworkers' wives. Lucius hated the semi-annual balls that the Ministry threw. He thought they were just a pointless excuse for everyone to get drunk and spread rumors interdepartmentally. In all honestly, he would have much preferred being at home in his study with a fire going and a glass of something expensive and strong.

It was then, as he was tuning out the sugary tones of his wife, that a girl caught his eye across the room. The pained look on her face was what attracted him immediately- glad to know someone here was having less fun than he. Despite her grimace, he noticed the rest of her face, which he was certain, would be even more beautiful if smiling, and the dangerous set of curves in the slinky black gown she was wearing. She was in conversation with some people he couldn't quite see at the moment, but when the crowd parted after a dance, he noticed she was on the arm of a man he truly detested—Sirius Black.

"Something wrong darling?" Narcissa asked her husband, trying to contain her glee. The awful woman she had been talking to was finally out of her company and she had followed her husband's eyes to see that they had found Lacey.

"No," he drawled, turning to look at Narcissa, "Just surprised that your cousin has a date is all."

"Oh, yes, she's rather pretty," Narcissa feigned disinterest, but chanced a glance at her husband again and found his eyes trained on her. She knew he at least seconded her opinion silently, but it wouldn't bode well for her and Remus if Lucius thought she was in love with a man he couldn't stand.

"Has he mentioned seeing anyone?" Lucius knew his wife and her cousin were speaking to each other, and while he had started to become cordial to her last blood relative out of her coaxing, he was fine that he was kept out of their rekindled bond.

"Just friends I heard. I guess he is seeing someone. No one knows who, but she couldn't make it, so he invited this girl instead…"

"Interesting," Lucius ended the conversation. Although she struck him as enchanting, he knew getting anywhere near Black would be a bad idea when a woman was involved and decided to drop the matter for now. He had broken it off with his last mistress about six weeks ago and was starting to become agitated from lack of release. Narcissa had been ignoring his bed, which he could hardly blame her for- since he had been unfaithful, but he was on the hunt for a replacement.

"I'm going to go and find Draco and Astoria," Narcissa excused herself and Lucius was perfectly content being left alone in his little corner of the party. Since the war was over, and since he was cleared of most charges in exchange for the names of remaining Death Eaters, his terrible reputation had slowly faded. People were never going to be completely convinced of his transformation, he knew that, but he felt confident in his repentance. It didn't mean that the air of mystery and danger surrounding the Malfoy name had to disappear completely, however, and he reveled in the fact that oftentimes people were still too afraid to approach him. This left Lucius to casually observe his surrounding, his favorite advantage.

~o0o~

Lacey was beginning to lose track of the hour. Sirius had left her side a while ago and she had been forced into conversation with Harry Potter and his witch of the moment, a terribly flighty blonde who was much too touchy-feely with the 'Boy Who Lived'. When, at last, Lacey found herself without a conversation partner, she started to drag her eyes across the ballroom. She felt uncomfortable in the act, almost as if someone was watching her before she could see them-and she was right. When her eyes found Mr. Malfoy for the first time, she realized that they had already been locked on her. All it took was one meeting of their similar pairs of striking blue eyes for Lacey to lose her composure and head off in search of the powder room.

"Oh bloody hell you two!" Lacey shrieked. She had been totally caught up in her own thoughts when she bumped into Sirius and Ginny snogging like the world was ending in the dark recess by the bathroom.

Ginny parted from Sirius, blushing nearly the shade of her hair, but did not move her hands that were in rather compromising places on his body, "Thank Merlin it's just you…"

"Yeah, no shit Gin. Why don't the two of you stop acting like randy teenagers and go home before someone sees you…" Lacey glared at them. She wasn't annoyed at them…it was more of the unsettling feeling she had received when she had caught her target's eye across the dance floor. And no one had been there to help her. She was really starting to think she couldn't do this.

"What happened, you look awful?" Ginny asked her best friend.

"I'm fine, just go…"

"You heard the girl," Sirius grinned and Lacey heard their dissaparition before barging into the bathroom. She locked the door behind her and stood at the lovely marble sink, staring at her pale reflection in the mirror.

You can do this Lace, he's just a man. Just one stupid man. If you don't do this, you don't get to move out of your shite apartment. You need to help your friends. You need to do one unselfish thing, Lace. Just one.

Lacey groaned as she tried to rectify the mess that her hair had become in the last few hours. As she smoothed down the fly-aways that were taking over near her forehead and wiping away a bit of smeared eye makeup, she took a deep breath and looked at the mirror sternly.

Lacey, you are sexy, and you are confident, and if you can dodge two bludgers simultaneously, then you can talk to this man. Leave normal Lacey behind and be heartbreaker Lacey, just like Narcissa said…

Lacey cocked her head to the side and stared at herself for a second more.

"Oh fuck it all," Lacey said to the girl staring back at her and left the restroom. She walked back into the loud ballroom and quickly spotted Mr. Malfoy across the floor. In about two dozen careful strides in her heels, she was right before him.

"Excuse me, would you like to dance?" she asked, thoroughly surprised that her voice sounded confident. He wasn't looking at her and she had the moment to herself to take him in. She had seen him a few times in her life, mostly during her Hogwarts years and in the Daily Prophet. His hair was much shorter than the last time she had seen him, just grazing his shoulders, maybe a bit longer. His chiseled face was staring off into the distance and his eyes were the most intense part of his visage. She was taken aback by the sight of them up close. They had made her stomach turn in knots across the room, but now those two cool blue-grey orbs were both wholly frightening and intriguing at the same time. He was wearing all black and even as she took in his well-built form, he still didn't acknowledge her.

"I said would you like to dance? This is the only one I know and…"

"I heard you the first time," he said suddenly, still not looking at her.

"Well then?"

"Well then?" Lucius turned, repeating her words in a mocking manner, "Well then…do you know who I am?"

"Of course I know who you are Mr. Malfoy, and I hardly expected you to be so rude to a lady!" Lacey snapped at him. She didn't care if it was inappropriate. She was trying her hardest to be nice to him and he was making it impossible.

"Lady?" Lucius smirked, giving her a once over, "Maybe some parts of you, but I am sensing you are more of a girl."

Lacey bit her lip and paused for a second to refrain from cursing at him, "Fine, I am sorry I asked." She turned to stomp away but his hand was on her arm in a second and in one quick movement he had pulled her close to him, positioned her arms on him in the hold for a waltz, and led her onto the dance floor.

"What are you doing?" Lacey asked through gritted teeth.

"Dancing, didn't you ask me to? And I must say, for someone that claimed this was your best dance, you are doing terribly," Lucius replied. It was irritating Lacey beyond reason how his voice could stay so even and his gaze could look so unaffected. She huffed and purposefully stepped on his shiny dragonhide shoes. He didn't even flinch.

"Well, for you information Mr. Malfoy, I am not a girl. I am twenty-four years old," she changed the subject but was starting to falter when it came to her anger. There was something about being so close to him that made her want to scream. Other couples were dancing past her in a rush of color, and the people standing around the edges of the room were blurred. She couldn't find a reassuring face to save her life, and she felt as if she were drowning in the arms of this man.

"Please, call me Lucius. And that hardly helps your argument."

"Why not, Mr. Malfoy?" she looked him directly in the eye, emphasizing his formal title to try and get a rise out of him, or at least make him feel the same way that she did. He just stared passively back at her, dancing flawlessly to the sounds of the talented string quartet.

"You asking me to dance when you are clearly here with someone else shows exactly how naïve you are. And naivety is something generally associated with girls."

Lacey was startled when he reminded her of Sirius, but felt slightly more confident that he had clearly noticed her before this moment, "Mr. Black and I are simply friends."

"I have known Sirius Black for a lot longer than I am sure you have and trust me when I say, if he brought you here tonight, he does not think of you as a friend."

Lacey was dumbfounded. She hadn't thought for one moment that being Sirius' date would have every caused an issue with her and Lucius. He was a means to get her into the party, but of course she couldn't tell him Ginny Weasley was his girlfriend. Half of her family was there and gossip like that in the hands of the Malfoy patriarch would spread like fiendfyre.

"Well, as far as I am concerned, I consider him only a friend and nothing more. I know what I want and like in a man and Sirius does not fit that description. And I think you can hardly fault that logic or condemn me for being girlish. Especially when you don't even know my name," Lacey said. The song had ended and they stopped on the dance floor. There was a smattering of clapping from people and partners were being changed. Lucius dropped Lacey's arms and with an unreadable expression, merely replied, "I don't need to. Our dance is done, you have gotten what you wished for, you have a date to go back to, and I still have misgivings about you being a lady."

"Sorry for wasting your time Mr. Malfoy, thank you for the dance. But the next time you see me, I would prefer is you use my name, and not something condescending like 'girl'. It's Lacey Delaney. Just for reference," she was proud of herself for her comeback and grinned as she turned on her heel and started to walk away. It had only been a half of a minute since the last song ended, but already couples were twirling around them in another intricate dance and she had to bob and weave to get through the mass.

"How are you so sure there will be a next time!" she heard his voice above the music, but she kept walking. She needed to get out of his presence, and she needed to do it quickly.

A/N: So, what do you think? They are off to a rocky start! I hope you guys enjoyed. I would love to hear what you thought!