Happenstance

Chapter 35: Baby's First Birthday

On top of having to worry about their fast approaching wedding, Draco and Luna also had Landon's first birthday on the horizon. Since Landon was just turning one year old, they didn't plan on throwing a big party, but they still wanted to have a notable celebration. After all, your son only turns one year old once. Luckily for Luna and Draco, both their parents thoroughly enjoyed their role as grandparents, and took it upon themselves to handle the planning of Landon's birthday bash; citing it as their grand-parental right. Draco and Luna were happy to hand over the reigns, especially since neither had the slightest idea of how to plan a birthday party that children and adults would enjoy.

Since Lanny's grandparents were handling most of the planning of his party, Luna was afforded plenty of time to think back on how her life had changed; and to say her life had changed was a definite understatement. Every time she thought about it, Luna couldn't believe that it had only been a year since she'd given birth to her son. It seemed like the first time she'd held him had been ages ago. Even more surprising than that, was the realization that she and Draco hadn't even been together for a year: and yet their lives had become so harmoniously entangled with one another. It was the sort of bond that Luna felt would have taken a lifetime to build.

Their life seemed too perfect, too simple, and Luna couldn't help but worry that something was going to sneak up on them and ruin everything. Hoping to ease the foreboding tension she felt building in the back of her mind, the night before Landon's party, Luna decided to talk to Draco about it.

"Why on Earth would you say that?" Draco laughed, not understanding where her feeling like their relationship was doomed had come from. Everything was going wonderfully, and he didn't see any reason why that would ever change.

"I'm just saying," Luna shrugged, rolling over onto her back and staring up at the canopy of their bed. "Maybe things are going too perfectly. It's just not normal for things to go so well for so long."

"Don't you think you're just being paranoid?" he asked, rolling over onto his side so he could see her face. Scooching over, Draco cupped her body with his. "Maybe you and I are so perfect for each other that we'll never have to worry about anything ever going wrong."

"Great," Luna huffed, glaring at him. "Now you've gone and jinxed us."

"Jinxed?" He laughed. "Now I know you're being paranoid. Look," Draco cupped her face with his hand, forcing her to look at him, "Every thing's going to be fine. You haven't got anything to worry about. I love you, you love me... that's all that matters. There's nothing, and I mean nothing, that could ever possibly ruin what we have together."

"I guess you're right," Luna whispered, feeling a bit silly for worry over nothing.

"I am right," Draco echoed, loving the way it sounded. It wasn't very often he got to be right, so when he was, he really enjoyed it. "You're just stressed over the wedding and Lanny's birthday."

"I'm not half as worried about the wedding and Lanny's party, as I am about our engagement party," Luna said, sounding as if the thought of their engagement party pained her.

"Yeah," he laughed. "I'd be worried too if I had to try to impress my relatives."

"That's not funny, Draco," Luna pouted, glancing over at the dress form in her closet, that her gown for the engagement party was on. She was half tempted to rush over and slam the door to the closet shut, so she didn't have to look at the thing. But it was such a lovely gown, that she absolutely adore, so she couldn't quite bring herself to do it.

"Father promised to make it very clear to my family that you have his approval," Draco said, trying to sound optimistic. "They're all petrified of him, so I'm sure they'll listen."

"Not when they see the new and improved Lucius Malfoy," Luna joked. Since he'd formed a relationship with Landon, Lucius had done a complete one-eighty, and Luna and Draco had secretly been making jokes about it.

"Let's hope he can at least pretend to be the big bad Lucius Malfoy of yesteryear, while our family's in town," Draco laughed, knowing that the moment his father was close to Landon, he'd turn to mush. Once everyone heard his father's version of baby talk, they'd never shirk away from him again. Draco knew that Lucius' adoration of his grandson didn't lessen how dangerous a wizard he really was, but that didn't mean that their relatives wouldn't. Quite frankly, Draco hoped that one of them did challenge his father. It would be one hell of a sight to behold.

"He's fantastic with Lanny," Luna said, suddenly, completely shifting the topic. "I'm still shocked every time I see them together. I never would have been able to imagine how good a grandfather he'd make. I half expected him to torture baby's, not dote upon them as if they're the most important thing in his world."

"Hell, he wasn't even like that with me," Draco sighed, just as surprised over his father's blossoming into a wonderful grandfather as Luna was. "It would have been nice to have had that when I was growing up." Though he tried to hide it, you could hear in his voice, just how much hurt he was over the lack of fathering Lucius had done. "I'm glad that Lanny will get to know him as he is now, and not the man he used to be."

"Me too," Luna laughed, recalling the little incident in the Department of Mysterious, during her fourth year at Hogwarts, when Lucius tried to kill her.

"A year old," Draco whispered, thinking out loud. "I can't believe it."

"Me either," Luna sighed, resting her head on his arm. "He looks more and more like you everyday."

"Lucky for him," Draco said, only half joking. His ideals and values may have changed, but he was still as cocky as ever, and Luna didn't think that would ever changed. Honestly, she wasn't sure if she even wanted it to.

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Surprisingly, Narcissa and Rosie hadn't gone over the top with their plans for Landon's first birthday party. Luna had expected them to arrange some big get together for the entire Wizarding community, but instead they had planned a nice afternoon luncheon and play date with some of their worlds most affluent mothers with young children. Narcissa hated the fact that Landon didn't have any friends, so she hoped that this little get together would help to introduce him to some children his own age. Luna's soon-to-be mother-in-law also hoped that this would force Luna to extend her own social circle. She really didn't think it was healthy for Luna to have absolutely no friends, and she knew that Luna wasn't the type to seek out these sorts of relationships, so Narcissa planned on giving her a helpful push.

Though Narcissa wasn't pleased that Luna had isolated herself from her peers, Luna was just fine with the way her life was, including her lack of friends; or at least she pretended to be okay with it. Ever since Harry, Ron and Hermione had pretended to be her friends when they actually spent most of their time making fun of her, Luna had pretty much sworn off the idea of having people she was close to. But after all this time had passed, there was definitely a little voice in the back of her head telling her to try to patch things up with them. Though she hated making herself so vulnerable again, Luna had to admit she often found herself yearning for someone other than Landon or Draco to talk to.

The article in the Prophet had made it quite clear that Harry and Ron hadn't been themselves as of late, and Luna liked to believe that this hadn't been a new problem, but a long existing one. At least then she would have been able to excuse their behavior towards her. Her decision to invite them to the wedding had been one that she had been toying with ever since she'd read the article in the Prophet, but after speaking to Draco about it and him barely fighting her on it, she decided to go ahead and invite them.

When Luna had told Narcissa that she'd invited the Golden Trio, she had immediately objected. While she did want Luna to have friends, she didn't want her friends to be those who were responsible for the Dark Lord's downfall. But after realizing that this was a small step in the right direction, Narcissa agreed that it was probably a good idea to try and patch things up with them. Hoping to get Luna's mind off of those three, Narcissa made it a point to introduce Luna to as many of the mother's at Lanny's birthday party as possible. She was quite happy to see that after only an hour or so, Luna was actively participating in the conversations that were going on around her.

"Little Jenny's just started teething and she's been a complete mess all week," Annabelle, a young witch who couldn't have been much older than Luna said, rocking her fussy daughter back and forth in her arms. "I've run out of ideas on how to comfort her.

"Lanny was a wreck too," Luna said, softly, still a bit unsure of herself in a social situation with people she didn't know. "Fortunately, Severus Snape was kind enough to invent this wonderful salve that soothed his gums in seconds. The entire teething process went really well from then on."

"Severus Snape?" another witch asked, looking skeptical. "As in Hogwarts Potions Master?" Luna nodded. "Oh, I forgot, he's really good friends with Lucius."

"Actually, I think he made it because he's really fond of Lanny," Luna said. "I think he reminds Severus of Draco. Narcissa told me that when Draco was a baby, Severus made it a point to visit quite often."

"Do you think he'd be willing to share this secret salve with the rest of the Wizarding World," Annabelle asked, sounding hopeful. "My husband could probably get him a really great percentage of the profits were it to be put on the shelves. His boss is looking for new markets to launch products in."

"I'm not sure," Luna said, not knowing if Severus would ever go for something like that. "But you should definitely have your husband ask him about it when he gets here. Merlin only knows what sort of ideas that man has floating around in his head. They'd probably make him a fortune."

"Not to mention he'd save us some headaches," Annabelle laughed, just as her daughter began screaming again.

"I've got some extra salve," Luna offered. "I can go get it for you, if you'd like to give it a try."

"You're a godsend," Annabelle sighed, sounding undeniably relieved by the thought of a respite from her daughters screams. Seeing Luna stand to go retrieve the salve, Annabelle stood and said, "I'll come with you. I'd love to see Landon's nursery, if you don't mind."

"Absolutely," Luna said, brightly. As the two left the sunroom where the luncheon was taking place, Narcissa, who sat next to Draco, let a satisfied smile creep across her lovely face.

"Well, you should be proud," Draco whispered, so the people around them couldn't hear. He hated it, but his father had invited several of the families of his co-workers to the party, so he'd been stuck listening to office talk all afternoon. "Luna doesn't usually know how to handle herself when she's around people she doesn't know. But it seems you've roped her into making a new friend."

"It seems I have." Narcissa smiled triumphantly. "She certainly made me work for it though."

"No doubt," Draco nodded, rocking his dozing son back and forth gently. Poor Landon was tuckered out after only an hour of playing with other children his age. He didn't doubt it was a lot for the baby to take in; especially since he'd only really ever spent his time around adults, and they weren't nearly as much fun for him as other children were. "I'm not sure if I should be happy or angry."

"Why would you be angry?" Narcissa asked, staring down at her sleeping grandson. "Merlin, that is one beautiful baby," she thought.

"Because the more time she spends with her new friends, the less time she spends with me," Draco replied, nodding at one of his associates as he pretended to listen to what they were yammering about. He was beginning to get agitated by them. Blaise and Goyle were supposed to be there over an hour ago, and they still hadn't shown up. Draco couldn't wait for them to come rescue him from the monotony of his co-workers.

"Draco, you can't keep her all to yourself, now can you?" Narcissa laughed.

"No, but I can damn well try," he scoffed. Just then, Blaise and Goyle came barreling into the sunroom, laughing loudly.

"Well hello, Ladies," Blaise said, winking at them. Obviously, not even the babies the witches were holding was enough to make the notorious ladies man stop flirting. "You are all looking absolutely ravishing this afternoon."

"Can it," Goyle snapped, rolling his eyes and making a beeline for Draco. Without thinking, Greg reached down and took the sleeping baby from his best friends arms, immediately waking the boy.

"You moron," Draco snapped, knowing how much Landon hated being woken up before he was ready; especially when it was done so abruptly. Without missing a beat, Lanny started wailing. Doing his best to comfort him, Greg rocked the boy back and forth, making goofy noises.

"What's wrong?" Luna said, suddenly appearing behind Goyle, Annabelle following not too far behind. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Goyle lied, handing Landon to his mother. Once cradled against her chest, Landon's cries quieted. "I gotta learn how to do that," Goyle murmured, wondering how she got the baby to be quiet so fast. Luna and Annabelle ignored him and returned to the group of mothers who were enjoying a nice cup of tea.

"What took you so long to get here?" Draco asked, sounding annoyed. "I've been waiting for over an hour."

"Blaise had to stop and hit on everything with tits," Goyle huffed, pointing at Blaise, who did his best to look innocent.

"Language," Narcissa chided, smacking Goyle on the back of his neck, just as she'd done when he was younger and he'd used improper language.

"Sorry," Goyle said, offering her a weak smile. Pulling Draco away from his mother's earshot, Goyle finished his explanation. "One good thing did come from our being so late for the party. We overheard Pansy Parkinson pissing and moaning to Millicent about that little wedding invitation you sent her."

"She's mad?" Draco asked, smirking. "Good," he thought. "Serves her right."

"Oh, she's pissed," Blaise laughed. "She kept going on and on about how this was supposed to be her wedding to you that everyone was talking about, not you and that 'Ravenclaw mutt'. Her face was so red."

"Did she say whether or not she was going to come," Draco asked, curiously. He really hoped that she was. Granted, his main focus was on actually marrying the love of his life, he still wanted to see Pansy's face at the ceremony.

"She said that she was going to be there, and I quote, 'dressed to the nines'. Apparently, she thinks she'll be able to make you want her instead of Luna by wearing some ridiculously skanky dress," Goyle said, sounding worried. "Look, I know this is only Pansy we're talking about, but be careful. She can be a spiteful bitch when she wants to be."

"Don't worry," Draco said, smiling broadly. "Everything will be fine." Perhaps he was being too optimistic when he said that, but he really did believe it. Draco didn't think that Pansy would prove to be at all problematic. Apparently, Draco Malfoy had never learned just how spiteful a scorned witch could really be.

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LET ME KNOW IF THE 8'S AT THE BOTTOM ARE STILL TOO LONG. MY MONITOR HAS A WIDE SCREEN SO I CAN'T REALLY TELL IF IT'S MAKING THE SCREEN SCROLL LEFT TO RIGHT OR NOT.

FYI: I KNOW SNAPE IS REALLY OUT OF CHARACTER AT THIS POINT, BUT HE'S MY FAVORITE CHARACTER, AND I CAN'T HELP IT. THOUGH I'VE TRIED, I CAN'T SEEM TO ACTUALLY WRITE A LENGTHY STORY ABOUT HIM, CAUSE DRACO MALFOY WON'T GET THE HELL OUT OF MY BRAIN! I'VE GOT AT LEAST THREE OTHER STORIES I'VE STARTED THAT HAVE SOMEHOW MORPHED INTO DRACO STORIES, WHEN THEY WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO EVEN HAVE HIM IN IT : ( DAMN HIM AND HIS SEXY SELF!