A/N: Sorry for the slight delay again. I have been busy planning out the rest of the story instead of writing it. It is sadly coming to an end soon…but not too soon. Enjoy!

~o0o~

"If she loves him, what's the big, bloody deal?"

"Aislinn, enough," Liam Delaney sighed as he ran his hands through his greying brown hair and looked at his three children, sitting around him in the living room.

"He's coming back for dinner, and I am not going to allow either of you to treat him poorly. And if you do, you should know I won't be visiting again. Ever."

Lacey's mouth formed a hard, unwavering line as she crossed her arms and sank back into the comfy, worn leather couch. Lucius had only briefly met her father and older brother when they had gotten home and the latter had made it so awkward that Lucius had excused himself to the local wizarding pub to give them an hour alone before dinner.

"He's almost my age…" her father started in again. Aislinn held Lacey's hand supportively and squeezed it when the brunette tried to move.

"He has the worst reputation. Of anyone you could be with Lace, him? You are better than dating a snake like that! He's KILLED people!" Colin said, quickly spiraling into full-blown over-protective brother mode. Lacey winced. She hated being reminded of that fact.

"Killed people?" Liam swallowed hard, looking with wide-eyes as his daughter and son for an explanation. He knew enough about the wizarding world as muggle could, but Colin and Lacey had glossed over the war with him as much as they could. It was bad enough that they had lost their mother so young to Dragon Pox, but the thought of death by a wand would surely make their father try and confiscate their own.

"A time ago. He's changed, Dad, I swear to you. I can't help who I fall in love with. You have to know he has changed! He's done nothing but funnel his fortune into Hogwarts so it can keep staying the best wizarding school for Ais and for everyone else-muggleborns, half-bloods, everyone. He's not a prejudiced prick anymore, otherwise he wouldn't have touched me! And he's certainly no longer a murderer…" Lacey's face was flushed as she pleaded with her brother.

"Language! Your mother would be disappointed!"

"Mum would be thrilled for me that I found someone who loves me for me. She'd be more disappointed in the fact that you two won't give him a chance. You haven't even had a conversation with him yet!"

"He has better hair than you do, do you honestly think I can take the man seriously? On top of everything else?" Colin snorted, shaking his messy brown hair into his eyes. Lacey could tell that he was thinking hard about how to hex Lucius when he stepped foot back into the house.

"Try to," Aislinn chimed in as she hugged her older sister close. She didn't get to see her often as it was, but now that school was out for the summer, she hoped that she would see her more if the rest of her family didn't push her away.

"You are gone for so long and you mysteriously show up with someone so unlike you…." Liam started again but Lacey cut her father off, "You were thrilled when he got in touch with you a few days ago. But you suddenly change your tune upon finding out he's older than me?"

"It's not just the age, Lacey. How do you know he's right for you? How do you know he loves you as well? How do you know he won't hurt you?"

Lacey looked from her brother to her father and said, "Spend tonight getting to know him and then ask me again. If you really don't see it, then he can leave tomorrow."

Colin wasn't as convinced, but her father nodded and got up to finish readying dinner. Aislinn clapped her hands together and moved to set the table as Lacey left to walk down the road to the little pub a few blocks down.

~o0o~

"She can't just disappear into thin air!" Sirius growled and then took a long gulp of coffee generously spiked with Firewhiskey. Remus and Ginny flanked him on the couch in the Grimmauld library as Narcissa paced the floor.

"Apparently, she can. And she can take my husband with her," Narcissa replied curtly. Ginny flopped exasperatedly back onto her side of the couch and let out a long groan. She missed her best friend horribly and hadn't had a chance to talk to her about all that had been happening, especially the most pressing issue, as Sirius had pointed out to her, of her feelings for Lucius. She knew they were together somewhere and that afternoon Narcissa had sent owls to everyone calling for a meeting about the impending announcement, which she had been hoping to do the following day. Ginny, in all the time that she had known Narcissa, had never seen her lose her composure like this. She looked positively frantic.

"No one has heard anything from her? No mention of a sudden trip?" Remus raised an eyebrow at Ginny as if she was keeping a secret. She glared back at him.

"No. We have a really important game in two days. And it's her birthday then. She wouldn't miss it. I'm sure everything is just fine," she tried to console the group. Sirius was only concerned for his cousin, and Remus for his girlfriend. Ginny wanted her best friend around, but hoped wherever she was with Lucius, that they were having fun before it came to an end, especially if Sirius' suspicions were right.

"I can't believe he would be so bold as to just leave without saying anything. Shows how much I mean to him as a wife," Narcissa mumbled out and the jealousy over her husband stung Remus, but he kept quiet. He knew she was stressed and just wanted her plan to go as smoothly as possible, but her extreme care over his actions did hurt him.

"If they aren't back by tomorrow, we will figure something out," Sirius tried to settle it. He had plenty of other things on his list to do that didn't include babysitting Narcissa. He wanted to apologize to Harry and talk to the Weasley's. He also knew Ginny was anxious to distract Hermione from trying to find and talk to Lacey.

"Wherever Lacey is," Remus gently took Narcissa's hand, halting her in the path she was carving back and forth across the library floor, "I am sure she is doing what she thinks will help."

~o0o~

"Pansy, I don't know if this is a good idea…." Astoria wrung her pale little hands together as the pair of women stood outside of Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley. After the war, the seedier annex to Diagon Alley had been all but shut down and the dark artifacts shop they were currently debating on entering only opened via a password.

"Of course it is. I know enough to complete the spell, but I have no way of getting it to her," Pansy took Astoria by the wrist, murmured the password to the door and it swung open, beckoning them into the dimly lit shop and shutting loudly behind them.

A very old man appeared behind the counter, his spindly hands folded in front of him as he appraised his new customers, "Ah, Ms. Parkinson and Ms. Greengrass…glad you decided to come in. Can I help you find what you are looking for?"

Pansy sauntered to the counter to face the owner, leaving Astoria to nervously browse the dusty shelves. Astoria was the prettier of the two, but Pansy's confidence made her dark beauty more appealing, and the fact that she had finished out her last year at Hogwarts despite the wreckage from the war meant she had gained an advantage on all of her peers in charms-second only to Hermione Granger, which still infuriated her.

"Actually, I think you should be able to help me…" Pansy smirked as she looked under the counter and exactly what she wanted caught her eye.

~o0o~

"Guess who!"

Lacey snuck up on Lucius at the wizarding pub, noticing his longer blonde hair instantly in a sea of red and brown haired men. Her laugh gave her away as she perched her chin on his shoulder and kept her hands over his eyes.

"I don't know…whoever it is, she is extremely rude to be keeping me from my beloved girlfriend, and my whiskey," she could hear the smile in his voice as he said it and she finally released her hands and kissed him on the cheek, sliding onto the empty barstool besides him.

"It's a real good thing she is your 'beloved girlfriend' then…" Lacey smiled, glad that he looked less nervous than he had a while ago.

"Is it dinner time at the Delaney's?"

"Almost."

"Did your conversation go well?"

"I've thought of a way to fix it," Lacey bit her lip and Lucius shook his head, instantly knowing Delaney tempers must have clashed while he was away, "There's a floo here right?"

"I believe so, saw some men come in from back there…" Lucius pointed past the bar to a hallway, "Please promise me you know what you are doing."

"Just enjoy your whiskey, alright?" Lacey bounded off with a cheeky smirk on her face until she found the floo around the corner. She checked to make sure she wouldn't be disturbed and decided a fire-call would be a safer bet for what she had planned. Lacey cast the appropriate spell and leaned down by the fireplace.

~o0o~

"Ginny? Gin? You there?"

Ginny was luxuriating in a foot rub from Sirius after the panic-stricken frenzy Narcissa had induced not long ago. She was stretched out on the couch in the Grimmauld library with her small feet in Sirius' lap as he pressed the pads of his fingers into the soles of her feet and they discussed how he was going to go about his talk with Harry.

"Sirius stop…do you hear that? Shhh…." Ginny's head perked up from the couch and she looked around. Her eyes locked on Lacey's distorted face appearing in the fireplace, making her look ghostly and burned. She hopped up to go and talk to her friend.

"I need you, Ginny…is Narcissa around? I didn't want to just floo if she was in the room…"

"She's upstairs, go ahead and come through."

A moment later, Lacey was brushing embers and soot off of her clothes as she entered the library and hugged her best friend with ferocity.

"I've fucking missed you," Ginny tried to hold back tears. It had been too long for both of them without the comfort of having a best friend around, "Where were you? Everyone has been freaking out. You didn't tell anyone you were leaving!"

"I didn't want Narcissa to stop me. Lucius surprised me and took me to see my family. I know this is all going to come to an end soon and I just wanted a little bit more time with him," Lacey fought to hold back her own tears and Sirius got up from the couch and walked over to the two women.

"You love him, don't you?" he asked, looking into Lacey's eyes and finding the answer clearly before she spoke it.

"More than anything. And even though he's going to hate me in a few days, I want my family to know he's a good man," Lacey said. Ginny looked slightly shocked and Sirius snorted a bit in disagreement, but more jokingly than anything.

"Told you, love," he ribbed Ginny and the red-head hugged her best friend again, "Lacey, if this is really true, that you love him, then why don't you tell Narcissa?"

"I'm not going to ruin things for her and Remus. I just won't. And it doesn't matter if I tell her anyway. It's not about her…I can't take back the facts. I can't deny this was a set-up, and that is what he won't forgive," she replied resolutely. It had gone too far to salvage and she knew it. She just wanted to enjoy the time she had left.

"Lace…I didn't expect this…" Ginny held the brunette's hands in hers, squeezing them softly, but understanding everything. She hadn't expected to fall for Sirius either, but it had happened.

"Me either. Trust me. Can you please come with me? I really need you right now and I know you are the only one who can help," Lacey said in barely a whisper and Ginny nodded instantly. Sirius put a hand on his loves' shoulder and pushed her gently back towards the floo.

A/N: Hope you all liked this! I know it is taking a while between chapters but I am doing my best! What do you think Lacey needs Ginny to do? What do you think Pansy and Astoria are up to? Leave a review!