Draco knocked on the door and waited for his father to bid him to enter the study.
"Well"? Lucius arched an eyebrow, pouring three fingers' worth of Ogden's Finest into two crystal tumblers and sliding one across the desk.
Draco deposited himself into the chair and picked up the glass, but didn't drink yet. "She agreed to marry me."
"A fine start." Lucius nodded. "But we need her to want to keep you out of Azkaban. She has to fall in love with you."
"Love potion?" Draco frowned.
Lucius shook his head. "They're illegal, if you're caught, and if it ever wears off and she comes to her senses, she will be livid. No, if you know how, you can manipulate anyone to your particular purposes, but witches are especially easy to control. You already have several important factors in your favour."
"Like what?" Draco tipped his head.
"You were her first lover, weren't you?" Lucius steepled his fingers and looked over his hands. Draco nodded. "A woman will always be half in love with her first lover." He smirked at his son. "You're the father of her baby. Women are programmed from birth to seek a strong family alliance. They look for a man who will protect and provide for their children. It's for the survival of the species. Men, on the other hand, are predisposed to impregnate multiple females, also for the survival of the species. You show her that you will be a good father to her baby and you'll have her eating out of your hand." Draco nodded his understanding and his father continued. "Her father is in St Mungo's, and she has no one else. You will step up to be her protector and provider. Let her learn that she can depend on you, while making her question where her friends are when she needs them."
"How long do I have to keep this up?" Draco questioned.
Lucius sighed and tossed back his drink. "Unfortunately, there is no statute of limitations on some of the crimes you could be accused of. At least she is a pureblood, and already proven fertile, so she can provide a proper heir. Once she has a baby or two to occupy her time, she will turn her attentions to them and leave you free to live your own life. Just be discreet and keep her happy. She's no worse than that cow of a daughter the Flints hoped to marry into our family."
Draco took a sip of his drink, then placed the glass on the desk and curled his arms around himself. "There's so much that can go wrong."
"It's already gone wrong, Draco." Lucius flared impatiently. "The Dark Lord was defeated, the Malfoy and Black heir is in danger of going to prison, and you've spawned an illegitimate child with a blood traitor whose father is a madman. There's nothing left for it except to man up and make the best of the situation. You're seventeen years old, Draco. It's time for you to start acting like it, rather than some little third year shoving people in the courtyard."
"I thought it would be better with the Dark Lord defeated." Draco answered softly, looking somewhat like a frightened third year. "I wouldn't have to be in constant fear of being killed if I did something wrong. Now you're telling me that I have to be afraid of my wife sending me to prison if I screw up." He looked up at his father desperately. "Can't we just leave? Can't we go somewhere the Ministry can't find us? We've got money, we've got influence in other countries, we have homes abroad that even we have forgotten about. Can't we just walk away?"
"You could have walked away!" Lucius snapped. "You could have walked away from the girl with your cock still in your pants. You could have even used a contraceptive charm. But you didn't. You gave away control of your life to her the moment you fathered her child, just as much as you gave control of your life to the Dark Lord the night you took the mark." He pinched the bridge of his nose and took several deep breaths to compose himself before he continued. "You can do this, Draco. She's a very simple girl. If you had to be in this situation, thank Merlin at least she's not a Slytherin who will see right through you. Malfoys are born masters of manipulation. Blacks are born actors. You're both. It's not as complex as you're making it in your mind. You just have to spend the next few weeks convincing her that she loves you, and then it's done." Lucius leaned forward, nad gave what was supposed to be an encouraging smile to his son. "Now, the sooner you start, the better."
Draco nodded, draining the rest of his drink, and slowly rose, making his way to the door. Once it closed behind him, he pushed up his left sleeve, looking at the Dark Mark, which was slightly faded since Voldemort's defeat.
Draco hadn't asked for that mark. It had been forced on him, just like he didn't ask to be the father of Luna's baby. That had been thrust upon him as well.
Draco survived the Dark Lord. Surely he could survive Loony Lovegood.
"Come in," Luna called softly.
Draco opened the door, to find her sitting on the window seat, her trunk untouched in the middle of the room.
"Is your room to your liking?" He asked, crossing to where she sat.
"It's very lovely, Draco." she looked around. "But would you mind terribly if I painted it? It's rather dark."
"You can redecorate any way you wish." he smiled indulgently. "Just tell me what you want, and I'll make sure it is taken care of."
"That's kind of you, Draco, but I can do it myself."She looked around the room, as if making plans in her head.
"I'm sure you can, but you shouldn't be exposed to any chemicals or do any strenuous magic right now. It wouldn't be good for the baby." He reached over and drew circles on her knuckles with the tip of one finger.
"You're right, of course." She agreed. "Sometimes I still forget. I've only known a few days."
"You didn't know before you went to the hospital?" He frowned.
"No." She shook her head. "I haven't had any morning sickness or anything like that. I've just been really tired at times, but I thought that was due to everything that had been going on."
"Well, I suppose that's good, that you haven't had some of the unpleasant symptoms." He answered her, wishing this didn't feel so awkward.
"How long will this be my room?" she asked suddenly.
"What do you mean?" He watched as she walked over to look at a spot on the wall.
"Am I going to stay in this room?" She looked at him over her shoulder before crossing over to the bed and kneeling to peer under it. "Or when we're married, will I move to your room?"
"My room is right through that door." He pointed to a doorway beside the bed. "We can just see how things go. If we're getting on well and you want to move into my room, that's fine, and then we can use this one as the nursery until the baby gets older. Or if you want to keep separate rooms, you can stay here, and we can just add another doorway to make the next room the nursery." He walked over to sit beside her on the floor. "I don't want you to feel pressured into doing anything you don't want to." He bent to look under the bed beside her, lighting his wand with a Lumos. "Luna, what are you looking for?"
"To see what lives under there." She answered, as if it should have been obvious.
"I hope nothing is living under there." He shuddered.
"I didnt mean anything dangerous." she shrugged. "Like nifflers or nargles or maybe mice."
"Do you have any idea what my mother would do if there were a mouse in her house?" Draco arched an eyebrow.
"They're very peaceful creatures, actually." Luna informed him. "Well, the nargles and nifflers can get a bit annoying, with taking things that don't belong to them, but they don't understand that it's wrong."
He sat on the bed and offered a hand to help her up beside him. "Down past the garden there are some creatures, rabbits and foxes and the like. There's a charm around the garden to prevent anything other than birds from entering. When I was small, sometimes squirrels or some other little creatures would disturb the peacocks and make them scream, which in turn frightened me and made me scream, so my father warded the garden."
"That's very good, that you admit to being afraid now." she squeezed his hand. "You used to be adamantly against showing any sort of weakness, including fear."
"You think being afraid is good?" He looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
"Well, not being afraid, really, but being strong enough to show weakness." She nodded, as if he should know exactly what she was talking about.
"That didn't make sense." He frowned.
"Of course it did." She stood and walked over to the wardrobe, tugging the door open and putting her head inside.
"Are you looking for more creatures?" He asked with a huff.
"No." She pulled her head out to smile at him. "Narnia."
"What's a Narnia?" he inquired.
"It's the magical land in the book The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Did you ever read it?" She tilted her head. "Of course you didn't. If you had, you would know what Narnia was."
"You're not going to find a magical land in an antique wardrobe." He almost snorted.
"Obviously you haven't read the book." She flashed him a brief smile before opening her trunk. She rummaged around for a moment and then held up a book. "Here it is."
"They find a magical land in a wardrobe?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Of course not." She handed him the book. "That's where the entrance is located. A whole magical land wouldn't fit."
He turned the worn hardback over in his hands.
"There's actually a whole set about Narnia. The White Queen reminds me a bit of Voldemort." She was on her knees beside her trunk again, and retrieved another book. "I like being outside. May I read in the garden, Draco?"
"If you'd like." He shrugged. "This will be your home. You're free to go anywhere except my parents' personal quarters or my father's study. You might better keep a house elf with you until you get used to the place. If you were to get lost, you could wander for days."
"Why don't you just come with me, Draco?" she invited, holding out a hand.
He couldn't think of a good reason not to, at the moment. "I suppose I will." He rose, picking up the book Luna had given him.