Happenstance

Chapter 26: Little White Lies

The closer that Friday came, the more and more excited Draco got. He was really looking forward to getting back Luna's research. Even though Luna tried to act like she didn't think about the progress she could have made in finding a cure for Obliviate, Draco knew that it often crossed her mind. There was no way that it couldn't. According to Luna's father, she had really been onto something, and the possibility of finding a cure had been just within her reach. So, to have it snatched away so cruelly and unjustly, had been almost unbearable.

Draco had been so excited about his plan, that he'd almost slipped up and mentioned it to Luna on several occasions. She was the last person, save for the Minister of Magic himself, that Draco wanted to know about his having a time turner. There was a reason they were illegal, and no matter how much he tried to ignore the possible consequences of using the time turner, Draco couldn't. The tiniest of slip-ups could completely nullify his present life, and that was something that he couldn't bear the thought of. He loved Luna and Landon so much, and to think that he may have to live without them, was the worst possible life he could imagine. Luckily, since Blaise and Goyle already knew of his plan and were in fact, a very intricate part of it, Draco was able to talk to them about it. This meant that he'd been spending a lot of his free time during that week with the boys, instead of with his girlfriend and son, which certainly didn't please Luna all that much. She tried to act as if she wasn't bothered by his seeming detachment, but she couldn't help but feel lonely. For months now, she and Draco had spent almost all of their free time together or with Lanny, and she found Draco's desire to be out with the boys to be quite bothersome.

Draco assured Luna that he didn't want to spend more time with his friends than with her, it was just that Goyle was having a bit of a crisis at the moment and he really needed his and Blaise's support. Draco didn't want to lie to her, but in the grand scheme of things, he thought that having to tell a few little lies was worth getting her research back. He didn't doubt that Greg would be displeased by being used as a decoy, but hey, what are friends for, right?

Naturally, instead of leaving well enough alone, Luna had to ask what sort of crisis Greg was going through. Panicking, Draco slipped up and said that his friend was questioning his sexuality. Luna looked stunned at that revelation, as did Draco. Why on Earth that of all things had come out, he didn't know; but she bought it, so he wasn't about to try and back track and say it was something else. So all week long, instead of spending his time after work at home with Luna and Landon, Draco met up with Blaise and Goyle, and they went over the exacts and specifics of their plan. Usually they met at the coffee house, but that Thursday it had been really dreary and cold out, so the trio decided to corral themselves in Draco's office at home. Unfortunately, they weren't lucky enough to avoid Luna.

"Hey guys," she said, as Draco and his two friends entered the foyer, removing their scarves and coats and hanging them on the coat rack. Walking over to Draco, Luna kissed him and allowed him to take Landon from her arms. "How are you?"

"Great," Blaise said, hugging Luna, which took her by surprise. "And how is the second hottest unwed witch doing?"

"I'm good," she laughed. Luna had seen that rubbish that Rita had printed and she was less than thrilled. Personally, she felt that she had attributes that were more worth talking about than her looks. "Hello Gregory," she said, hugging him tightly and looking at him sympathetically. "How are you feeling?" Goyle looked at her, confused by the babying tone to her voice.

"I'm doing great," he assured her, hugging her in much the same fashion as Blaise had.

"Draco told me what you were going through," she whispered. "And I just wanted to say that I think its wonderful that you felt like you could go to Draco with this. Most guys would be petrified to reach out to their male friends when they've come to such a crossroad." Goyle was clueless. He couldn't for the life of him figure out what the hell Luna was talking about.

"What do you mean?" he asked, stealing Landon from Draco's arms and bouncing him playfully. "What crossroad?"

"You're gay," Luna said, simply. Draco stopped dead in his tracks. He'd completely forgotten about the little lie he'd told a few days earlier. "Draco told me about it already."

"I beg your pardon?" Goyle asked, nearly dropping Landon. Luckily, Blaise had been close by and had firmly grasped Landon before he was able to slip from his stunned friends arms.

"Draco said that you were questioning your sexuality..."

"I AM NOT GAY!" Goyle shouted, startling Landon, who began crying loudly. Gently, Blaise slipped the boy out of Goyle's arms and cradled him against his chest, trying to calm the startled baby, while at the same time trying to control his own laughter. "I love witches. All sorts, so long as they've got boobs and a vagina and no penis. Witches... not wizards!"

"Why would you say he was questioning..." Luna began to ask Draco, before being interrupted by another of Goyle's outburst.

"Gay!?" he shouted. "Gay? Me? What the fuck Draco?"

"I didn't say you were gay," the cornered blond lied.

"Yes, you did," Luna countered. "What the hell is going on; why are you lying?"

"I'm not lying," Draco argued, lamely. He didn't know what else to say. If he told Luna he was lying, she'd want to know why; and if he kept denying it Goyle was likely to beat him to a pulp. Luckily, Blaise, who found the entire situation hysterical, was able to figure out what was going on and he decided to help his frantic friend out of the rut he'd gotten himself into.

"Shit," Blaise said, handing the now calmed down Landon to his father. "Remember last week when that witch dumped you and you said that you were through with witches, and joked around about becoming gay so you didn't have to deal with their bullshit anymore." Blaise gave Goyle a look that said, 'play along'. Catching the hint, Greg nodded, though somewhat unconvincingly. "I think Draco thought you were serious. That's why Luna thinks your gay."

"Oh, you were joking about that?" Draco asked, inwardly praising Blaise for being so quick on his feet. "I thought you were serious. Luna wasn't too happy about my not being home after work this week, so I told her that you were questioning your sexuality and you needed a friend. Sorry mate."

"No problem," Goyle ground out. "Let's just make sure that it doesn't happen again and that every is clear on the fact that I like girls... not guys."

"Crystal clear," Draco said, offering his agitated friend a mock salute.

"Then why did you say you didn't say that," Luna asked, not willing to let the fact that Draco had denied telling her that Goyle was a homosexual rest.

"I didn't," Draco lied, cursing himself for not having any other rebuttal.

"Yes, you did," Luna said, through clenched teeth.

"Luna," Blaise interjected, placing his arm over her shoulder and walking her towards a nearby settee. "Our Draco here, has been really stressed out as of late, so his brain is obviously a bit jumbled. I'm sure he didn't mean to lie to you, but he was torn between being a good boyfriend and being a good friend. If you'd been his old girlfriend, Pansy, he'd have told you to shove off, instead of letting you in on what he thought was the problem."

"Well, if Goyle isn't confused about his preferences," Luna asked. "Then why has Draco been gone everyday after work, this week?"

"Because he was under the impression that Goyle was confused," Blaise countered without missing a beat. "But the truth is, its all Goyle's and my fault. Ever since Landon and you came into Draco's life, Greg and I have hardly had five minutes with our boy here. I guess we were starved for attention or something. Now, don't get me wrong; we're really happy to see him so happy and we adore you and Lanny, but we were lonely." For added effect, Blaise stuck out his lower lip and pretended to pout.

"I guess I see what you mean," Luna replied, feeling a little bad for hogging all of Draco's free time. "It's just tomorrow afternoon, Draco is going out of town for a day or two and I've hardly seen him all week, so I guess I've been nitpicking a bit. But, you guys are welcome to come over anytime you want. Landon would love to see you more often."

"That sounds great," Blaise said. Draco couldn't believe how good a liar his friend was. Luna was a pretty perceptive girl, and she hadn't even realized that Blaise was bullshitting her.

"So, what are you guys up to this afternoon?" she asked, taking Landon from Draco's arms. "Nothing illegal, I hope." Draco's eyes opened wide, thinking she'd figured out what they were really planning.

"Of course not," Blaise lied. "We'll probably play a game or two of wizards chest, make fun of Potter and his lackey's and call it a night."

"Well, don't have too much fun," Luna said, kissing Draco before taking Landon upstairs for his bath.

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No sooner than the door to Draco's office closed behind them, Goyle was reading him the riot act. Greg couldn't believe that Draco had insinuated that he was gay. While he didn't have an issue with that lifestyle choice, it was one that he hadn't chosen for himself, so for his best friend to say he was, was just a bit more than Goyle could handle. Though it took about fifteen minutes, Greg finally stopped pouting and began to go over the details of Draco's plan one last time.

The way Draco had it planned out, while he was busy trying to switch the decoy portfolio with the real one, Blaise would stand watch outside of Snape's office wearing the invisibility cloak that Lucius had given him as a fifteenth birthday present. In the meantime, Goyle would be at the end of the corridor wearing the invisibility cloak that he had stolen from the Ministry on his second day of work, making sure that the coast was clear. Once they had made the switch, they would use the hidden tunnels underground to get to the outside of the castle, before heading to the Shrieking Shack. Once there, Draco would turn the time turner one-third of a turn, so that they didn't have to wait the several weeks between when Luna had given Snape the portfolio and when she found out it had been destroyed. Then all they had to do was wait for Luna to storm out of Snape's classroom after questioning him about her research, and turn the time turner fourteen turns, which would bring them back to the present day.

"Once we leave the past," Draco said, pouring himself and his two friends a glass of scotch. "We just need to keep an eye out for our present selves as we left them and cross their paths."

"You make it sound so simple," Blaise scoffed, downing his drink in one gulp. "Merlin, that stuffs disgusting."

"Then why do you drink it?" Goyle asked, drinking his own beverage. Personally, he was quite fond of the stuff.

"Because it makes me look cool," he laughed, only half kidding.

"Yeah, well you'd wear a skirt if you thought it made you look cool," Goyle joked.

"Well, I certainly have the legs for it," Blaise countered, shaking his butt in Greg's direction. "So, back to business, what time do you want to meet up tomorrow night?"

"I told Luna that I was going out of town tomorrow afternoon, so I figured we could meet at your house right after I get off. I'd really like to get this over and done with as soon as possible."

"You don't sound as excited about all of this as you used to," Goyle observed, pouring himself another drink. "You do remember that this was all your idea right?"

"Yes, I remember," Draco sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and shutting his eyes tightly. "I'm just really worried that somethings going to go wrong. If it does, I'm fucked... not to mention in a lot of trouble with my Mum."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to piss her off either," Goyle laughed. "Remember that time we got completely shit-faced and your Mum walked in on us. I don't think I've ever seen her face so red." The boys immediately started laughing as they recalled the event from a few years back.

"Or heard her scream so loud," Blaise added, laughing even harder. "We should do that again."

"My Mum doesn't care if we drink anymore; we're of age," Draco informed them, still trying to control his fit of laughter. "Which is too bad, cause that was really fun."

"Yes, it was," Goyle agreed. "Good times, good times. I sure wish Crabbe was here though. He'd really love what we've got planned for tomorrow." The mention of their fallen friend instantly quelled all of their amusement. Crabbe hadn't been nearly as lucky as Draco and Goyle had been. While Blaise remained neutral throughout the final battle, Draco and Goyle had switched from being on Voldemort's side to being on their own sides; which entailed doing whatever was required to keep them alive. One definitely couldn't consider these three boys to be on the good side, but they definitely weren't evil... anymore. Unlike his friends, Crabbe had remained on the Dark Lord's side and that decision ended up costing him his life.

"To Vincent," Draco said, solemnly, raising his glass in salute.

"To Vincent," Goyle and Blaise echoed, mimicking Draco's actions.

"I miss him, but he was an idiot," Blaise said, trying to sound as if he were joking, but his voice came across as strangled and tight.

"Yep," Draco agreed. "If he'd only followed our lead he'd probably still be here."

"The one time he chooses to think for himself he ends up getting himself killed," Goyle laughed. "Go figure."

"Well its a good thing he didn't think for himself often," Blaise added, trying to lighten the mood. "It seems like his original thoughts tend to be killers." Draco and Goyle tried not to laugh, but they couldn't help it. For nearly an hour, the three boys spent their time reminiscing over fond memories of their friend, Vincent Crabbe. It wasn't until Luna knocked on the door of Draco's office and asked Blaise and Goyle to stay for supper, that the trio emerged from their seclusion, proving that the old saying was right; the quickest way to a man's heart was through his stomach.

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