Happenstance

Chapter 21: The Start of the Beginning

All day long, Luna kept going over the events of that morning in her mind. Neville had been so upset when she'd told him that things between them could never go any further than friendship. It had broken Luna's heart to hurt him like that, but she really didn't have much of a choice in the matter. She'd long since stopped denying her feelings for Draco, and since she already had a child with him, Luna felt that she owed it to both Draco and her son to put all of her efforts into building as strong a family as possible. She wasn't completely sure that she and Draco would be spending the rest of their lives together, at least not as husband and wife, but she felt that she should at least give it a try. After all, Draco seemed more than willing to, so why shouldn't she?

Aside from her conversation with Neville that morning, Luna's mind was also filled with thoughts of Landon. It had been far too long since she'd seen her son and the separation was beginning to wear on her nerves. At several points during the day, Luna had nearly broken down and gone to Gwennie's to retrieve her son. The only thing stopping her was the fact that her day had been booked solid. Since she'd taken the previous day off, Luna had to reschedule several of her interviews for that morning, otherwise she was sure to fall behind schedule, which meant that her debut issue of the Quibbler wouldn't make it to print in time.

Luckily, since she was so busy, the day flew by and in no time at all, Luna was able to rush home to meet Landon and Draco. As usual, when Luna walked inside the house, she was greeted by the familiar sound of Draco playing with Landon. Ever since they'd returned to work, it was the same every afternoon. Draco would leave the office and head over to Gwennie's to retrieve Landon and by the time Luna got home, Draco would have changed into his casual clothes and was busy playing with his son. Luna was so comforted by the familiar sounds of Draco laughing and joking with the baby. She hadn't realize how accustomed she'd become to their routine, but after having changed things around for just one day, Luna was sure that she wouldn't be able to stand any long term changes to their life anytime soon.

"There's Mommy," Draco said to Landon, the sound of Luna's heels clicking against the floor signaling him that Luna was home.

"How's my guy?" Luna said, dropping her briefcase on the ground next to the couch and rushing over to Draco, who lay on the floor with Landon, numerous rattles and other toys scattered around them. "Oh, Mommy missed you so much."

"It was weird today, wasn't it?" Draco asked, as he sat up and watched Luna shower his son with kisses. "Not seeing him before work. I couldn't focus on anything all day... well, I focused even less than usual."

"It was awful," Luna agreed, cradling the baby tightly against her chest. "I couldn't focus much either."

"Yeah, but you also had Neville on the brain," Draco teased, knowing that Luna would be embarrassed about what had happened that morning. Draco didn't understand why Luna was so surprised by a guy being taken with her, after all she was very beautiful, and he himself had fallen quite hard for her. Draco knew that Luna's low self esteem had everything to do with the way her peers, himself included, had treated her while at Hogwarts, but it still didn't make much sense to him. He figured, if you're beautiful you're beautiful and that's that. The mirror doesn't lie. But then again, Draco never had to deal with constant teasing from his peers, least of all for his looks. "How did it go with him this morning anyway?"

"Fine, I suppose,"Luna replied, her fair skin flushing with embarrassment.

"Did he cry?" Draco laughed.

"No," she snapped, not liking Draco's amusement over someone's getting hurt. "But he was upset and he didn't understand why I'd want to throw away whatever potential happiness we could have had together for the likes of a Malfoy. He said he was half tempted to keep pursuing me, but since there was a baby involved he wouldn't try to get in the way. He did want me to tell you that you're a lucky son of a bitch and that you'd better be careful with how you treat me and Landon, otherwise, you'll have to deal with him."

"Well, you can tell your friend that I'm well aware of how lucky I am, but if I weren't careful, he's the last person I'd be afraid of," Draco replied, standing up and approaching Luna. Kneeling down next to her on the floor, where she sat with Landon, Draco kissed her. It wasn't one of the gentle kisses that he usually bestowed upon her, but one that had a point; one that clearly said, 'mine'. "Just so you know, I spoke with my Mum earlier and she said that she'd be happy to watch Landon whenever we wanted to go out. So, I was thinking that Wednesday nights and Saturday nights could be our date nights, and that my Mum and Dad could watch Lanny one of those days and your Dad could watch him the other."

"Your Dad's going to be there?" Luna asked, nervously.

"Luna, believe it or not, my Dad's trying really hard to change his ways. We had a really long talk about it at the office today. He told me that my hitting him for what he said about you, showed him that he can't keep behaving the way that he does, or he'll lose his heir."

"His heir," Luna repeated, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "How loving a term."

"Well, I am his heir," Draco defended. "He wants to be a part of my life and he wants to see his grandson grow up. He's willing to stand by and let us raise Landon however we want to, so long as we mull over changing Landon's last name to Malfoy."

"Absolutely not," Luna piped in. "His last name is Lovegood and that's how its going to stay."

"I don't want to argue about it or anything, and this is strictly from my father's mouth, but since Landon is a Malfoy, legally he can have his last name changed without your consent. There's this familial interest law that gives him that right, as the head of the family. It's stupid, but its legal. Besides, when we get married, your last name would change to Malfoy, so what does it matter?"

"When we get married," Luna exclaimed. "I didn't realize that we'd planned on that ever happening."

"Let's not do this tonight, Love," Draco said, taking Landon out of her arms and helping her up. "We're going to have a fantastic evening together, so I don't want to argue. Why don't you go upstairs, take a nice warm shower, get yourself all sexied up, and I'll take Lanny over to my Mum's house."

"Alright, but let me make myself clear, Landon's last name isn't changing." Luna stood, placed one last kiss on Lanny's forehead and one on Draco's cheek, and then bounded upstairs to get ready.

"God, your Mum's hot," Draco muttered, bouncing Landon up and down in his arms as he headed for the door. "If I play my cards right, I might get laid. What do you think?" Landon's only response was a resounding burp. "I didn't think so either."

888888888888888888888888

When Draco arrived at his childhood home, he could hear that his mother and father were seated in the sitting room, chatting and waiting for him and Landon to arrive. Apparently, due to her excitement over having her grandson spend the evening with her, Draco's mother had pulled out all of his old toys and playthings, so that Landon would have something to occupy himself with while he and Luna were on their date. Draco wasn't surprised to see that his mother was so overjoyed by the thought of having a few hours of quality time with Landon. She'd always made it clear that she'd wanted more than one child, but his father was set on only have a single son. Regardless of that, not even Lucius could manage to hide the fact that he was looking forward to having his grandson over for the evening.

As Narcissa sat on the plush carpeted floor, next to Lucius' armchair, busying herself with laying out the toys for Landon, Draco noticed that she wasn't in her usual overly expensive garb. Instead, she wore black slacks and a plain white oxford. He'd never seen his mother look so, well... normal. As far back as he could remember, Narcissa Malfoy had always made it a point to be dressed to the nines, so to see her in such casual attire caused Draco to do a double take. His father, however, was still decked out in his work clothes, which, as always, consisted of some of the finest and most expensive apparel one could find. Draco couldn't help but feel bad for his father. He knew how much Lucius appreciated luxurious apparel, and he also knew that if it looked expensive, Landon would spit up on it... or worse. Draco didn't feel bad about it for too long though. The more he thought about it, the funnier it seemed. He'd never really seen his father look anything other than pristine, hell, even while locked up in Azkaban he'd been spotless and dressed to the T, so needless to say, Draco was almost looking forward to hearing his mother tell him of his father's unavoidable encounter with a mucusy mess, upon returning to pick Landon up that evening.

"Hey Mum, Father," Draco said, as he finally made his arrival known. "Thanks again for watching Lanny."

"Oh, it's our pleasure," Narcissa enthused, jumping up to retrieve her grandson from her son's arms. "I swear, he gets more and more adorable everyday!"

"Handsome," Lucius corrected, standing to greet his son with a handshake, now that he wasn't holding the baby. "He's handsome, not adorable. I swear, I went through the same trouble when you were born. She was always fussing about you being cute or some other sissy adjective, and it certainly didn't help that you looked far too feminine for your own good."

"He wasn't feminine," Narcissa defended, her brow furrowed. "He was such a darling little boy."

"Like I said," his father interrupted, rolling his eyes at his wife's denial. "You were quite feminine."

"Thanks," Draco replied. "I really needed to know that I was a girly baby."

"I didn't say you were girly, just feminine," Lucius joked. Draco didn't know why his father was in such a good mood, but he was definitely unsettled by it. Usually, when Lucius made it a point to joke with him it was because he was either up to something or one of his plans at, as Draco liked to call it, world domination, had worked in his favor. "What's all that stuff in the chair?" Lucius asked, pointing at the large bag Draco had placed in a nearby armchair when he'd arrived.

"That's Lanny's away bag," he explained, opening up the large tote so he could show them its contents. "These are his bottles. I fed him just before we left so he shouldn't want another one for another hour or two..."

"What is in there?" Narcissa asked, looking at the contents of the bottle uneasily.

"Breast milk," Draco responded, as if she'd just asked the dumbest question ever.

"Why isn't it in your girlfriend's breast?" Narcissa asked, still not liking the idea of feeding her only grandson what was in those bottles.

"Luna uses a breast pump throughout the day and stores the milk in the bottles," he informed his mother, realizing that she didn't understand the premise of the pump. "She nurses him when she's there, but when she's at work, Gwennie just uses the bottles of Luna's milk to feed Lanny. That way he doesn't get too accustomed to the formula. Breast milk is always best for the baby."

"When did you become such a girl?" Lucius asked, a bewildered look on his face. "A few weeks ago you couldn't even say the word breast without blushing or laughing, and now you're talking about pumps and milk. You need to get out more."

"That's what they're trying to do, dear," Narcissa snapped. "Besides, I think it's wonderful that Draco's so knowledgeable about the care of his son. It would have been nice to have had that sort of involvement from you when he was a baby." Narcissa leaned over and kissed her son on the cheek, genuinely proud that he'd managed to become such a great father when he hadn't had the best of examples.

"Thanks Mum," Draco replied, his cheeks flushing out of embarrassment. While he explained the other contents of the baby to his mother, Lucius took Landon from his wife's arms and walked over to some of the various Malfoy family relics that were scattered around the family room. Draco could hear his father explaining to his infant grandson exactly what they were and how they could be useful. The sight of his father with Landon resting against his chest was a welcomed one. Even his mother had stopped mid-sentence when she saw her husband gently patting the tiny infant on the back while he gave him a tour of the room. Draco couldn't help but feel like this was the moment when his father was really accepting Landon as his grandson, as a Malfoy. It had been a huge worry of his, that because of Luna's lineage, she and Landon would be treated as outcasts. But it seemed that Lucius didn't plan on doing that, which was a big relief in Draco's mind. Unfortunately, Landon couldn't allow the three adults to enjoy the beautiful moment for too long. Whenever you pat the boy on the back, you can almost count on a mess. True to form, Landon spit up right on the shoulder of his grandfather's favorite blazer. When Lucius heard the unfamiliar gurgling noise, he knew exactly what had happened and stopped dead in his tracks. To make matters worse, Narcissa started to laugh. Draco had thought that he'd enjoy Landon making a mess of Lucius' jacket, but instead he had an ominous feeling in the pit of his stomach.

For several moments Lucius stood rooted to his spot, not bothering to move Landon from his shoulder, but finally he pulled Landon away from him and held the boy at arms length, gazing at him with a blank look on his face. Landon, as he always did after spitting up, looked undeniably amused, and Draco didn't think his father would take to kindly to it. But instead of losing his cool, Lucius turned back to look at his wife, his blank look giving way to one of disgust and slight panic, and gestured for her to come get the boy. Quickly, while his mother retrieved Landon, Draco grabbed a napkin from the away bag and went to wipe the mess up off of his father's shoulder.

"That is really disgusting," Lucius whispered, so that his wife couldn't hear. "How do you put up with it?"

"I just got used to it, I guess," Draco whispered, not looking his father in the eye. Truth be told, he'd been pretty grossed out the first time Landon had gotten sick on him too, but after a while it just stopped bothering him. "Sorry about your jacket."

"Not a problem," Lucius said, as he removed the mentioned garment. Apparently, having the spit up wiped off of his clothes wasn't enough for Lucius. He didn't seem to want the jacket anywhere near him. "I'm sure it'll come clean." Surprisingly, once the jacket was removed, Lucius held his hands out for Narcissa to return Landon to his arms. Pouting, Narcissa obliged and then busied herself with sorting through the away bag. "Oh, do you have a minute before you have to leave? I want to show you what the Prophet will be printing in tomorrow mornings paper."

"Sure," Draco said, following his father as he headed towards his office, Landon in tow. "Have you heard from Skeeter yet? I'm sure she won't take this sitting down."

"She's a bit preoccupied with the investigation over her animagus status to concern herself with me at the moment." There was no denying that his father was absolutely pleased with himself; he was grinning ear to ear. "The editor owled this copy of tomorrows paper over, so I could sign off on it. He's pissing himself with worry, right now. I had our lawyers pop into his office this morning and remind him of his responsibilities as head of the paper for the misrepresentation of his employees. Needless to say, I don't think the Malfoy name will grace the pages of the Prophet without my consent in the future."

"They did have my consent," Draco muttered, still not thrilled with how his father had handled this, but too glad that he'd even bothered to handle it all to say anything more about it. "It was my idea."

"No, it wasn't," Lucius corrected, a mischievous grin on his face. "It's Skeeter's word versus yours, and if you don't get in the habit of denying it, you'll probably slip up later on."

"Alright," Draco grumbled. "As he entered his father's office, Draco saw out of the corner of his eye, that a play pen had been set up over by his father's desk. It seemed like Lucius' main goal of the evening was to surprise the hell out of his son, and if that's what he was aiming for, he was definitely succeeding. Without explaining the play pens presence, Lucius lowered Lanny into it before retrieving the aforementioned edition of the Prophet from his desk and handing it to Draco.

"Whoa," Draco mumbled, "the front page? I figured they stick it somewhere in the back where fewer people were likely to see it."

"When Mr. Houser stopped by the editor's office he made it quite clear that if they were willing to print Rita's story on the front page, than they had better be willing to print the retraction there as well." The grin on Lucius' face spread even wider. "Don't you just love throwing around your authority?"

"I don't have any authority," Draco muttered, waving off his father's gloating.

"You're a Malfoy, my boy. The name alone gives you authority." Lucius pat his son on the back, before giddily, and I do mean giddily, bounding over to see his grandson, who lay in the playpen. Draco couldn't suppress his laughter at the sight of his father in so jovial a mood. It was just so uncharacteristic. Turning his attention back to the retraction, Draco began to read it over.

As Editor of the Daily Prophet, I must inform our readers that a mistake has been made. Two days ago, Rita Skeeter authored an article about the Malfoy family, stating that Draco Malfoy, heir to the Malfoy fortune, and Luna Lovegood, daughter of the owner and Editor of the Quibbler, were expecting their second child. It is with my deepest regrets that I inform you that Rita Skeeter fabricated the article in its entirety. Draco Malfoy and Luna Lovegood, though the proud parents of a son, Landon Malfoy, are not expecting another child. It has been brought to our attention by, none other than the head of the Malfoy line, Lucius Malfoy that Rita Skeeter was more than likely attempting to use the Malfoy name to further her status as a reporter. It is no secret that Mrs. Skeeter is known for her trivial and sometimes scathing articles. We at the Daily Prophet, find Rita Skeeter's behavior deplorable and are henceforth severing all ties with the so-called reporter. The Daily Prophet prides itself on providing up to the minute news, not gossip. I cannot express just how angered I am that Mrs. Skeeter used the Prophet as a platform for her deception. Neither can I express just how remorseful I am that two innocent lovers, such as Draco Malfoy and Luna Lovegood, were forced to endure a barrage of questioning and speculation. My deepest apologies to all who were affected by my former employee, Mrs. Skeeter's, lies, and to all of those who were looking forward to the arrival of the couples second child. Personally, I have had the pleasure of meeting young master Malfoy and Miss Lovegood's son, Landon, and I truly hope that the couple decide to have another child, as their son will prove to be a great addition to the Wizarding World.

"Talk about laying it on thick," Draco laughed, playfully flopping the paper down onto his father's desk. "Rita's gonna flip."

"I know," Lucius beamed. "Ain't life grand?"

"Yes, it is," Draco said, as he glanced over at his son, not really meaning it the way his father did. This certainly wasn't how he'd expected his life to pan out but he couldn't imagine being any happier than he was now. "It definitely is."

"You really do like being a father, don't you?" Lucius asked, a grimace on his face thanks to Landon who was busy pulling his grandfathers long hair. "Ouch, not so hard."

"Yeah, I do," Draco said, nodding. "I always knew that I wanted to be a Dad and have a couple of kids, but even I didn't think it would be this fulfilling. If I never did anything else, I would honestly be able to say that I'd lived a full life because of him."

"Wow, you really have turned into a girl," Lucius laughed. Draco knew his father was only messing with him, so he didn't let the statement bother him too much. "All joking aside, I really am proud of you. You're handling fatherhood wonderfully, a hell of a lot better than I did and I was quite a bit older than you are now. Everyday, at least one person comes up to me and tells me how surprised they are that you've become such a, and I quote, 'wonderful young man and father'." Though he said it in a teasing manner, Draco knew that his father was being genuine. "Like I said, I really am proud of you."

"Thanks, father," Draco muttered, his cheeks blushing bright red. It wasn't often that his dad made it a point to compliment him, and Draco wasn't exactly sure how to handle this situation. "So, does this mean the rest of the family might cut me some slack when I pass? Lanny, don't put Grandpa's hair in your mouth." Obviously, since he didn't have the slightest idea what his father was saying, Lanny continued to slobber on the handful of Lucius' hair that was tightly clenched in his tiny fist. To Lucius' credit, he didn't seem to mind too much.

"Of course not," Lucius laughed. "They'll make sure that you know their not happy about the boy's lineage, but so long as he makes an impact on our world it shouldn't be too bad. I don't think you'll have too much to worry about. This boys going to do great things... just like his Dad will. Bye the way, we're going to have to figure out something for the boy to call me other than Grandpa."

"You really think I'll do great things," Draco asked, a skeptical look on his face. "Cause, I'm not so sure about that. Hell, I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing at the office, so how great can it get?"

"Is that why you're not actually doing your job?" Lucius asked, fighting to control his laughter. "Is that why nothings getting done at work?"

"What do you mean 'nothing'?" Draco asked, dumbfounded. "I get plenty done." Not even he could believe that one though.

"You don't have the slightest idea of what your job entails, do you?" Lucius asked, once he was able to stop laughing. Draco shook his head. "Why didn't you ask me?"

"You're not exactly the most approachable guy," Draco muttered, completely embarrassed by this revelation. He really didn't like admitting that he was intimidated, bordering on afraid of his own father. "Why didn't you tell me I wasn't doing what I was supposed to?"

"I figure you were just overwhelmed, what with the new baby and all," Lucius replied, nonchalantly. "I thought that you were stressed, so I just took care of the stuff you missed myself."

"So, you've been doing your job and my job?" the stunned blond asked.

"Well, my own job doesn't really entail much," Lucius admitted. "That's one of the perks of being the boss." Draco already knew that, but he wasn't going to let his father know he did. "If you want, tomorrow we can go over the exact details of the position."

"Thanks," Draco said, laughing awkwardly. "I'll come by your office when I get in tomorrow morning." Before Draco and his father could say anything more, there was a soft knocking at the door. Opening, Lucius revealed his wife, who had a very annoyed look on her face. "Hey, Mum."

"Can I have the baby now?" Narcissa asked, not bothering to hide her agitation. "You've been hogging him since they got here." Rolling his eyes, Lucius carefully placed the infant into his wife's arms. The moment she had Landon to herself, Narcissa's mood softened. Settling herself into her husbands chair, earning herself an annoyed look from Lucius, Narcissa asked, "So, what are you and Luna doing this evening?"

"We're going to the movies," Draco replied, walking over to his mother and leaning down to kiss both Landon and her goodbye.

"What's that?" Lucius asked, a confused look on his face, as he bent down to pick up a rattle that had found its way out of the play pen.

"It's suppose to be really cool," Draco said. "Its a moving picture show, at least that 's what Blaise calls it. I've never actually seen one, so I'll have to let you know after we do."

"Are you excited to get out for a while?" Narcissa asked, not really wanting an answer. "I remember the first time your father and I went out after you were born. Granted your father had been out plenty since your birth, I'd been cooped up for months nursing you, and your Dad came home with this gorgeous gown for me and told me to get dressed, we were going to a Ministry Ball. I had the best time. You make sure that Luna enjoys herself."

"I will," Draco promised. "Thanks again for watching Lanny. Luna and I will be by around midnight to get him."

"Are you sure you don't want your Dad to just bring him to work in the morning?" Narcissa asked, not wanting to give up the baby for the night. "It wouldn't be any trouble." Lucius nodded in agreement.

"I don't think Luna or I could take another night without him in the house," Draco admitted. "Besides, we've got to get him to Gwennie's before work anyway."

"Oh, fine," Narcissa grumbled, playfully. "Have a good time tonight, Love."

"You too." With that said, Draco hurried out of his childhood home and apparated back to his own house so he could get ready for his date with Luna.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888