Trial and Error
Luna sighed as she shifted through a stack of parchment on her desk in her office. She had long since decided that the desk in her classroom wasn't conducive to completing her grading. She wrote a large 'A' across the top of the Slytherin essay and heaved another sigh, whining under her breath, "Grading can be so boring."
A chuckle from the doorway jolted her and caused her to fling up her arm, wand trained on the intruder. "Easy there, Luna. I'm here because you asked to speak with me about Scorpius." Draco Malfoy was leaning in the doorway, wand still in the holster on his thigh.
His easy posture made Luna relax slightly, before she sat back down in her chair. She gestured to the seat across the desk from her. "Take a seat, Mr. Malfoy."
Draco sat down and noted with weary amusement that Luna still held her wand in her hand. "You can call me Draco, you know. It's not like we aren't-"
Luna cut him off and began speaking, "Mr. Malfoy, we are here to discuss the disruptive behavior and declining grades of your son, Scorpius. Please stay on task." She straightened up the stacks of parchment and pulled out three essays and held them out for Draco to take. "Scorpius has been causing disruptions in his classes, and has started turning in nearly failing assignments. I'm not the only one noticing this decline. Why do you think he is acting out, Mr. Malfoy?" Luna stopped and looked at Draco.
Draco frowned while he read through the essays, but at Luna's last question, he snorted. "His mother won't speak to me."
Luna blinked, and stuttered out, "Err, what?"
Draco laughed, "I'll bet that he did this on purpose. He may take after me in cunning, but he is as brilliant as his mother."
Luna looked at Draco startled. "I don't understand..."
Draco leaned his chair back on two legs and smirked. "Scorpius knows that his mother takes her job very seriously. He's been waiting patiently for her to get into the swing of things to spring this on her."
Luna gasped and whispered, "You think he's been planning to act out and do poorly? Why?"
Draco shrugged again and dropped his chair back onto all four legs with a thud. "She was mad at me for the inexcusable way I started acting towards her and my son."
"What do you mean?"
"l had been fighting with her before my last assignment. Then once I left, I avoided her for several months, dodging floo calls and evading her owls." Draco looked at Luna and smiled ruefully.
Luna arched an eyebrow, "Why are you bringing this up now? You were the one who started to pick those fights without provocation!" Luna bit out harshly, turning her head away to stare out her window.
Draco sighed and shook his head as he muttered under his breath, "People have an annoying habit of remembering things they shouldn't." Louder, he added, "Do you even understand why I did what I did, Luna? The people we were after would have come after you and Scorpius had they known we were still together."
Luna shook her head, and snapped out, "We've been married for thirteen years, Draco Malfoy! Those people you were after would have known that your charade was just that, a charade! You should have told me so I could protect us better."
Draco angrily launched to his feet, and shouted, "I did what I had to so I could keep my family safe! The Head Auror told my partner and I that the people we were after would kill our families, forcing us to watch as they brutalized them, before killing us if we failed to subdue them. Did you honestly think I could just leave you and Scorpius so easily?"
Luna glared at Draco, and practically snarled at him, "You left me, and our son, nearly seven months ago, Draco. You just said yourself that you were actively avoiding me! Did you not think that maybe I had something important to say to you?" Luna took a deep breath before continuing her tirade, "I don't have the fortitude to deal with you leaving and I can't handle not knowing if you are going to return to me anymore. Scorp is scared he's going to lose you, and if we do," Luna took a shuddering breath and stood up, canceling the charm that kept her pregnant belly hidden, "your son and wife won't be the only ones to mourn you."
Draco stumbled around the desk and dropped to his knees before his wife.
"You...when...how?" Draco stuttered out, placing his hands on her stomach.
Luna placed her hands over Draco's and responded, "When you came back from the assignment in Peru. You were only home for two weeks, but it was long enough. How can you be so happy about this?"
"Happy? My wife is pregnant with my child. How could I not be?!" Draco exclaimed as he hugged Luna's waist.
Luna started to cry, "You left us! Don't you leave me because you think I'm not worth it anymore? You leave me and Scorp as often as you can, for as long as you can, and I-"
Draco interjected, releasing her to stand and look her in her eyes, "I will always love you, and our children. I completed my last mission with the Aurors. I won't do this to my family anymore. I am resigning to take full control of Malfoy Industries from my mother. I won't ever leave you, Scorpius, or our new little one, again."
Luna nodded and wrapped her arms around her husband crying. Luna choked out, "Scorpius, come out and greet your father."
Scorpius shuffled through the doors from his mother's private rooms and stopped several paces from his parents. "I'm sorry I was bad, Mother. I just wanted Father to come back," Scorpius said quietly, clenching his hands and bowing his head.
Draco laughed, "Scorp, all you did was make us realize that we were being stubborn. Come here and let me look at you," Draco said, causing Scorpius to walk over and into his parents embrace.
"I missed you Father," Scorpius whispered as he hugged his parents.
"I missed you as well." Draco's tone became stern however, when he added, "You will make up your work with your Professors, Scorpius Xenophilius Malfoy."
Scorpius nodded dutifully, "Yes, Father."
Draco looked at his family and smiled, "I won't ever leave you again. From now on, we will be a real family."
True to his word, Draco resigned from the Auror Department and started learning the ropes to Malfoy Industries from his mother. Narcissa was happy to finally be free to travel and get away from the company that she had never wanted to run in the first place.
Luna and Draco started spending more time together and opened up more to each other. The only time they had problems since their mini fight in her office that they had was the day Pandora Aurora Malfoy was born.
Draco hadn't known how well-versed his wife was in wandless hexes until his daughter was born, and he vowed to never actively get on her bad side ever again.
Scorpius adored his new sister and went to great lengths to make it to see his mother and sister on breaks at school. Scorpius' assignments returned to his high standard of completion and he had no more outbursts in class to lose points or earn detentions. He graduated, four years later, at the top of his class, with Outstanding Achievements in Charms and Potions.
Luna retired two years after Scorpius graduated to stay at home with Pandora who still had five more years before she started at Hogwarts.
The day Pandora started Hogwarts, she turned to her brother for help. "Scor, I'm afraid. What if no one wants to be my friend?" Pandora's blue eyes begged for reassurance as she confided in her brother.
Scorpius knelt down to hug her goodbye. "Don't worry, Pan," Scorpius soothed his sister, "If I know anything, it's that you will always have friends at Hogwarts. Look," he picked her up and swung her around to face his best friend of fourteen years. "Albus Potter, please tell Pan that she will have friends in school."
Albus laughed and whispered in Pandora's ear while Scorpius still held her, "If you find someone to share a compartment with on the train this first trip, you will be friends for life. It worked for my parents, and it worked for me and Scorpius. I'm passing the luck onto you now!" He kissed her cheek and spoke once more, "Don't worry. My cousin is starting his first year too."
Pandora giggled and hugged the two boys before Scorpius put her back down and she ran onto the train. "Goodbye, Scor! Goodbye, Al! Goodbye, Mum and Dad!" Pandora waved through the window and went in search of a compartment. Since Pandora was little, she had heard the stories about her parents' time in Hogwarts- how her dad and mum weren't always friends, but overcame their differences to love and protect each other. Her brother and Albus had told her of all the pranks they pulled and hi-jinks they got into in school, including the time Scorpius had managed to get their parents to reconcile. The trial and error that he went through before settling on the plan he used always amused her greatly. That had always been her favorite story, but now, it was time to start her own. The first thing she was going to do? Find the cousin of one Albus Severus Potter.
A/N I originally wrote this chapter (with some edits to take out my prompts for the round) as a one-shot for the QLFC Season 3 Round 1, but decided to make it into a mini series. Chapter 2 is my entry for the QLFC Season 3 Round 8. **stay tuned!**