A/N: Hello everyone! I just want to say hi to all of you, old and new readers and a big thanks for all your love, support, and reviews. They are all so special to me! Lyrics from Marina and the Diamonds.
"Girls, we do, whatever it will take
Cause girls don't want, we don't want our hearts to break"
~o0o~
Lacey awoke early the next morning with a pounding headache and a throbbing soreness all over her body, the most concerning of which was concentrated between her thighs.
"Fuck…" she groaned and grabbed the pillow from behind her head and slammed it dramatically down on her face, thrashing about so much that it finally caused Lucius to stir.
"What in Salazar's name is going on?" he asked her in the semi-darkness. When she just grumbled into the pillow over her face, he stretched his arm backwards to his night table and grasped his wand, flicking it to send the drapes open and the room was suddenly flooded with the gorgeous, slightly hazy, morning light of Wiltshire.
His next move was concentrated on the noisemaker herself, and he easily tore the fluffy pillow away from her face, causing her to squint and replace the pillow with her hands. It was quickly becoming all too clear to Lucius that Lacey wasn't a morning person.
Gently prying her fingers from her eyes, he bent down and kissed her softly, which finally coaxed her eyes open. He watched his reflection in her pupils as they quickly adjusted to the lightness of the room, but was soon distracted by her laughing as she suddenly fell back onto the plush bed in a fit of giggles.
"You are acting like a child," he said simply, but she just kept laughing and when Lucius sat further up in the bed, he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall, realizing his normally perfect blonde hair was sticking up strangely on the left side, "Brat," he scolded her before laying back down on the bed and pulling her close to him. Her giggles died away in their embrace and Lacey tried to forget the intimacy of the action and let herself snuggle against his chest for a moment.
"So," Lucius started softly, watching the steady rise and fall of Lacey's side in his nightshirt, "How is Mistress Malfoy doing this morning?" he asked with a rare gentle smile. Although Lacey knew there wasn't too much weight meant to the sentence, and it was expected from him as she knew he liked marking his territory, it hit a little too close for comfort for Lacey. In fact, all of it was starting to make her uncomfortable.
In less than twenty-four hours she had gone from falling for him, to hating him, to fighting him, to fucking him, and now to waking up next to him in actual, certifiable love with him. She tried avoiding his eyes, as looking into them only further confirmed to her that she was undeniably in love with Lucius Malfoy.
"Sore. Hungry. You know, I actually should be out of here… I mean, what about your wife?" Lacey stumbled through her excuse quickly, pushing back the luxurious covers and swinging her legs off the bed, planting her bare feet firmly on the ground. She kept running her hand through her hair nervously and from the scattered way she looked for her belongings on the table, Lucius knew something was troubling her.
"I don't care about Narcissa, Lacey. Come back to bed, my dear," he requested, but Lacey was already stripping off the nightshirt with her back toward him and getting dressed in her mended clothes as quickly as she could manage.
"You know I don't do the whole morning-after thing…" Lacey said to him over her shoulder as she rifled through her purse, although she wanted nothing more to stay with him in bed, she had things to think about, her job to get to, and Narcissa to avoid.
"We're past that Lacey, I thought we were anyhow…" he continued, his voice a bit stronger than before. She could tell by the unsure catch in it that he was confused, "Your my mistress…I want to talk with you. I want to have breakfast with you…"
Lacey froze, her whole body aching for him, but this time with an overwhelming and painful heartache. His request felt like a thousand birthdays, or the perfect spring day out on the Quidditch pitch and a winning game. But there were so many things wrong with loving him and she wanted to try and keep him unaware of that emotion so that she wouldn't be vulnerable.
"I do, I really want to…but getting caught by your wife isn't high on my list of things to do this morning," Lacey shrugged, trying to play it off as she turned back around to him. He was sitting up again, leaning his back against the immaculate wood headboard with his arms crossed. Her eyes followed the strong line of his jaw down to his perfectly muscled arms and cursed whatever higher power was playing such a cruel joke on her.
"I told you I don't care about Narcissa. Come here," he said again and the impatience in his voice spoke to Lacey on a level she was embarrassed to admit slightly turned her on and she complied, getting back up on the bed.
"Yes, sir?" Lacey rolled her eyes and his darkened and stirred up memories of the night before, causing her to focus intently on the freckle on her left knee instead of his face.
"Don't be a cheeky little thing, Lacey, I'm being serious. I spoke to Draco last night and it has come to both of our attentions that my wife has a lover," Lucius said with a coldness in his voice that was a bit frightening. She could tell that in some distant way he was jealous, but he was mostly surprised, and disappointed. Lacey guessed that more than anything his ego was bruised that he wasn't the only one in the pair having extramarital relations. Although he didn't appear to have much love for Narcissa, he had this idea that she was a sweet, submissive woman that idolized him to some extent, and Lacey could tell that notion had been thrown out the window entirely.
"She does?" Lacey was impressed at how natural her voice sounded, even though she was lying through her teeth, "Who is it?"
"No idea who the bastard is…but that's not the point Lacey. The point is I doubt she's even home from her own rendezvous, and I would just as gladly have her meet you if she were," he said.
If you only knew the half of it Lacey thought to herself but feigned surprise, "Seriously? You must have hit your head pretty hard last night when I was kicking your arse in that duel…" she broke into a cute grin. Lucius, his hand moving faster than could be stopped, slapped her hard on the side of her arse in retaliation.
"Hey!"
"You deserved it and we both know you liked it," he smiled. "But…," he paused, and his face went stoic for a moment, as if he was in a dilemma about something. He finally cleared his throat and seemed to regain some of the power he was used to, "I think you are a lovely, intelligent, sexy creature…and…seeing as it is about to become very apparent that my marriage is a farce, I don't see why you shouldn't be my girlfriend."
For someone that was usually so composed, when Lacey glanced up at him, he seemed a bit awkward, like he was full of doubt about something and he didn't quite know which posture to assume, "Lucius…I'm your mistress. We have amazing sex. We fight. That's it." She answered him with a heavy heart and this felt like more of a lie than anything before it.
"Lacey…" his voice was suddenly raspy, like it was thick with emotion that he was doing a damn good job hiding in his face, "It's more than that. It's become so much more than that…"
"No it hasn't," Lacey countered, getting off of the bed, hoping that physically distancing herself would help, "I barely know a thing about you…"
"And it's a shame because you should, and I want to know you. That's why I want you to stay…" Lucius tried again.
"Some people have work."
"Some people can pull strings at the Ministry and can make that work disappear," he said with a cocky grin on his face that made her temper flare. She grabbed her bag, slung it over her shoulder and hastened for the door before the smile that she found so sexy crept any farther up his face. She hated that his biggest worry at that moment was coffee or tea and if he was going to go into work late. Her worries were entwined into a web of lies on top of unwelcome feelings.
"Goodbye Lucius, have a nice day," she said simply before leaving his bedroom. Slightly surprised he hadn't followed, she headed for his office and took the floo back to her new house before she could run into any other Malfoy before breakfast.
~o0o~
"Moons, we have a huge problem," Sirius burst into his best friend's bedroom but when he saw a flurry of covers and heard a womanly scream, he retreated, sending out a string of curses that would have made Peeves blush.
"I overslept…I overslept…"
"Narcissa, darling calm down, it's okay. It's only seven, there are no owls, no word from Lacey…I'm sure he is not even missing you…" Remus entreated her to come back to bed, not even caring about his best friend outside of the door apparently going out of his mind, but the blonde was already putting on her clothes and righting her hair with her wand.
"You can come in Sirius…" she called in her perfectly lilting voice, hiding all of her panic easily, although it was still visible to Remus in her eyes. Her cousin was in the room in a moment, clutching a copy of the daily prophet in shaking hands.
"What's going on?" Remus asked, not expecting the morning to go like this. What he had hoped for was more along the lines of breakfast in bed with the woman he loved instead of awkwardly trying to hide his naked self under the covers. He was more than ready to find his own place with Narcissa.
"I fucked up. Big time," Sirius sighed, tossing the paper over to his friend in bed and as Remus moved to look at it, Narcissa applied some lipstick in the mirror and with a pat to the back of her head to make sure her hair was in place, grabbed her things to leave.
"Shite…where's Ginny?" Remus looked up at the wide-eyed, lost-looking Animagus.
"Asleep still. I blocked the floo, which should stifle our problem for now…but it won't last long…" Sirius replied nervously and finally overcome with curiosity, Narcissa stepped back towards the bed to look at the cover of the Prophet.
Robbing the Weasley Cradle? Ex-Convict Black Steps Out With War-Hero
Narcissa read the headline out loud, and somehow it sounded even worse in her perfect accent. Her stomach immediately plummeted and she felt nauseous. She cared for Ginny in a way she had never would have expected, and was horrified to see a love she had seen flourish be smutted by the classless Prophet.
"And they always have to throw in the convict thing…" Sirius mumbled from the doorway as Narcissa's eyes took in the picture…Sirius and Ginny in happy conversation walking down the street, holding hands. The picture looked as if it had been taken from far away, though, which made the sneakiness even more apparent.
"I swear I didn't see anyone…I thought we were safe," Sirius shrugged helplessly as Narcissa pursed her lips, upset for Ginny…and even more than that, upset that it was going to make Grimmauld place the hot spot for photographers now that it was on the map again, meaning that Narcissa would have to stay away from the man she loved if she wanted the divorce to go as planned.
"If you need anything, owl me, but be discreet? I have to go before this mess turns into two messes…" Narcissa gave Remus' hand a squeeze and then hugged her cousin before hastening to the floo downstairs. Remus looked empty when she was gone, but Sirius was quick to settle in, sitting on the chair by the window and holding his head in his hands, and certainly not caring about the privacy of his best friend.
"It'll be okay mate…if the prophet weren't such a piece of shite paper, they would be writing on more than gossip. I s'pose it comes with the territory," Remus yawned sleepily before giving his friend a sad smile and ripping up the newspaper deliberately. He was upset for them, but wasn't too worried. Sirius and Ginny were two of the most spirited fighters he knew, and he was sure they would survive it.
"Molly is going to castrate me." Sirius groaned into his hands, "Oh I am so fucked…"
"It could be worse, think of how it is going to be for me, Pads…look at it this way, you and Ginny are in love. You guys are perfect together and if people can't accept that, then they aren't being very good friends and family. It will blow over soon, I promise you…" Remus tried to be encouraging, but he knew it was dismal for Sirius. It wasn't so much their relationship now as the fact that they had kept it hidden for so long that would make their friends and Ginny's family angry.
"Morning," Ginny said cutely from the door way to Remus' room, startling both of the men. She was standing in her too long pajama pants and a robe over her, rubbing her eyes.
"It is so bizarre to me that we are suddenly all having a sleepover as grown adults…" Remus sighed as Ginny hopped onto the bed after hugging Sirius. But Remus wasn't quick enough to hide the evidence of the newspaper and when she caught sight of the ripped-up Prophet, she grabbed at the pieces and was able to discern enough.
"Holy Mother of Merlin," Ginny gasped, finally understanding why both of them had such strange looks on their faces, "Sirius I am so so sorry, I was the one that wanted to go out, it was my mistake…the Prophet is so damn nosy and…"
"Gin, it's fine, I'm not mad, just patiently awaiting the wrath of your family," he said, "And I can tell you I am more scared than before I went to Azkaban…"
"Well whatever wrath they have, I'll give it right back. You are my man and I don't give a damn who knows anymore. We were going to tell people soon, so I guess we just have a little change of plans!" she kissed him quickly before hopping off of the bed and heading towards the door, "Oh, and you both might want to get out of the room half-naked and alone with each other before I start thinking you have a thing and it gives me a complex… alright?" and she left, laughing all the way down the hallway.
"I adore that woman," Sirius shook his head, leaving Remus alone to contemplate the odd morning and finally put on some pants.
~o0o~
"Lacey, did you see this?"
Ron Weasley rushed up to Lacey in a panic, and as she looked around, it seemed like half of the Auror office was a bit disorganized and more focused on noisily gossiping than doing their jobs. Even the older main secretary with a penchant for meow-ing cat sweaters was whispering excitedly to one of the freckly new Aurors-in-Training.
He pushed a copy of the Daily Prophet into her face and she had to push it back for her eyes to adjust properly to the text. When she saw the moving picture of Sirius and Ginny out on a date, and the less than kind headline, she tried her best to feign surprise.
"Wow…" she said, trying not to commit to any particular emotion. Ron, however, seemed already committed to his-pure fury.
"Harry is livid…I mean…can you believe this? I'm fucking beyond….Merlin, that's his Godfather! My sister and Harry are meant to be together…I mean, mum is pissed…but we can't seem to find her, or Sirius…" Ron went on as Lacey walked to her desk and he followed spouting an incoherent string of worries and insults about his sister. Lacey sat down and began looking at some paperwork to distract her from snapping at her boss and telling him to fuck off, and was secretly glad that Sirius and Ginny had put themselves into hiding.
"You never know with the Prophet Ron, they are good friends and they probably just went out to dinner. It could have been doctored up…" Lacey tried to calm him down but he kept going on and on about it, his face turning the color of his hair and his voice raising in pitch so much that it cracked just like it used to during fourth year at Hogwarts.
Never in her life had she been gladder to see Draco Malfoy then when he walked into the Auror office a moment later.
"Fuck, now Malfoy is here too? Lacey…." Ron threw his hands up when Draco smoothly approached her desk, getting the gist of the conversation.
"If you could excuse her Weasley from whatever idiotic conversation you were trying to force her into, but I need to borrow Ms. Delaney for a moment," Draco said and without waiting for an argument from the nearly speechless redhead who looked about to pop a vein in his neck, took Lacey's arm and escorted her out of the office.
"Breakfast?" he suggested casually, as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
"I've been here for five minutes and I do have work to do today Malfoy…please," Lacey sighed. She was appreciative that she had escaped the Ginny and Sirius line of fire, but she wasn't sure that spending a morning with Draco after spending the night with his father was any better. Especially when it meant returning to the office later with a stack of work and a furious and even more suspicious boss.
"I'm sorry, I should have been more clear. Breakfast is actually non-negotiable…"Draco smirked as they stepped out of the elevator and into the atrium.
"What is going on?"
"You are about to get a promotion…and a change of scenery," Draco told her before stepping into the floo with her and shouting the name of a place she hadn't heard before.
A/N: I hope you all liked the chapter. A little change of pace. Tell me your thoughts! Where do you think Draco took Lacey?
