Happenstance

Chapter 22: A Long Time Coming

Draco couldn't believe how nervous he was. He'd been on hundreds of dates, but for some reason he was a jittery wreck. Instead of apparating home, like he should have, due to time constraints, Draco decided to walk. He'd hope the fresh air would calm his nerves, but not even that seemed to help. By the time he got back home, he'd actually managed to work himself up even more. Draco wanted his night out with Luna to go perfectly, and not just because he was hoping to score. There was no doubting that he and Luna were at a definite crossroad in their relationship, and he knew that if tonight didn't go well there was a chance that she would change her mind about giving him a shot. Granted, they'd gone out on a date before, this was by far more important than that evening had been. You'd be hard pressed to find a more crucial night than tonight, and the knowledge of this was turning Draco into a bumbling dunce.

For nearly five minutes, Draco stood on the front porch of his house, trying to convince himself that tonight was just like any other night. He knew it wouldn't work, but he figured it was worth a shot. Glancing at his watch, Draco realized that he only had half an hour to get ready, so he pushed his nervousness aside and entered the house.

Upon entering, he saw Luna, clad in her dressing robe, walking down the stairs towards him. When she saw Draco, her eyes lit up and she hurried over.

"You didn't tell me where we were going, so I don't have the slightest idea what to where," she said, perching atop her tip toes and kissing him softly on the cheek. Knowing that she was comfortable with kissing him like that, still wasn't enough to calm Draco's uneasiness.

"Right," he muttered, his cheeks blushing. Inwardly, Draco cursed himself for his constant flushing. Between his visit to his parent's house and the time he spent around Luna, he might as well just permanently change his skin pink. "I thought we'd go and see a Muggle Movie after we went by that little Italian place you like. I didn't think you'd want to do anything too fancy, since you've been at work all day. So, I just thought we'd do something relaxing."

"That's sounds fantastic," Luna chirped, wrapping her arms around Draco's neck. "I've always wanted to go to the movies, but my Dad was a little wary of them. He thought they would rot my brain or something."

"Well, I'm glad you like the idea," Draco replied, slightly comforted by her acceptance of his decision. He hadn't been sure if he should choose the movies or the theater, and he'd been flip flopping about it all day.

"Are you alright?" Luna asked, sensing that Draco seemed kind of tense. "You're acting a bit off."

"I'm fine," he lied, offering her an unconvincing smile.

"Are you too tired to go out?" Luna asked, not willing to let the subject rest. "Cause if you are, we can do this another time."

"I'm fine," Draco answered, genuinely not wanting her to worry. "I've been looking forward to this all day."

"Okay," Luna said, nodding. She'd take his word for it, but she still wasn't convinced that nothing was bothering him. "Did your Dad say something to upset you?"

"No, actually, he was acting kind of weird. He was really giddy and fussing over Landon like you wouldn't believe. It kind of weirded me out. Here's something I'm sure you'll love; Landon spit up on his jacket. He looked so disgusted and petrified, all at the same time."

"I wish I'd have seen that," Luna muttered, stifling a laugh. "Leave it to Lanny to get one over on your Dad without even trying. I'm going to go get dressed, okay?" Draco nodded, following her upstairs so he could do the same.

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Things weren't exactly going smooth for Draco, that was for sure. Granted, all of his troubles were of his own making. All day he'd been worrying himself over his date with Luna, and now that it came time for him to actually get ready for it, he was barely able to function. In his short lifetime, he'd been on loads of dates, but this one meant so much to him and he wanted it to be perfect. Under normal circumstances, Draco would simply rely on his good looks when he was getting ready for his date, especially since he knew that it really didn't matter what he wore, but tonight he found himself in the same dilemma that most witches and even Muggle women, find themselves in; he didn't know what to wear. To say that Draco felt foolish about this predicament was an understatement. It wasn't like he was going to a Ball or something; they were just going to the movies, so it didn't really matter what he wore.

Nearly thirty minutes had passed since he'd gotten out of the shower, and after searching through almost everything in his closet, most of which was now strewn across his floor, Draco had settled on a pair of relaxed fit dark denim jeans, a black and white striped, long-sleeved hooded shirt and a black leather jacket. Granted, he wasn't happy with his outfit, Draco finally headed downstairs to meet Luna. Because it had taken him so long to get dressed, the time that he'd allotted for their leisurely walk to the restaurant had been used up, so instead he knew that if they were going to make their reservations, they'd have to apparate. This bothered him all the more, as he had been looking forward to their getting to talk while they walked there.

To make matters worse, when Draco came bounding down the stairs, he found Luna sitting in one of the armchairs that were situated in the foyer, waiting for him. 'Talk about a role reversal,' Draco thought, as his eyes settled on his date. He couldn't help but be amused by the fact that she was the one sitting and waiting for him to finish getting ready for their date, which was typically what the guy had to do. When Luna heard him approach, she stood to greet him. Draco was floored by what he saw. He knew Luna was beautiful, but he couldn't fathom how a person could make such casual clothes look so good? Luna hadn't had nearly as hard a time choosing an outfit to wear for their date. She decided to keep it simple, so she paired dark blue, tight fitting, tapered leg jeans that she tucked into a pair of black knee high boots, with a fitted black cashmere turtleneck. Since she was far too lazy to bother with her hair, she just left it down and put on some lipgloss. All of this only took her about ten minutes, so she'd been waiting for Draco for quite some time.

"You look great," Draco said, when he finally made it over to where she was waiting for him.

"You too," she laughed, trying to figure out what had taken him so long. Luna probably wouldn't have had to think about it so hard, if she'd taken a look at the disaster area that was his bedroom. "You ready?"

"Yeah, sorry it took so long," he mumbled, feeling his cheeks warm thanks to his blushing again.

"No, problem," Luna chirped, taking a hold of his hand. "Are you sure you're up to this?"

"Absolutely," he assured her, leaning down and kissing her. "We're running a bit late, so I thought we could try sidelong apparation. That okay with you?" Luna nodded.

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Draco figured that it would be smooth sailing once they left the house, but he couldn't have been any further from the truth. He'd sidelong apparated plenty of times before with other dates, but for some reason, most likely due to his inability to focus at the moment; he kept ending up in the wrong place. Finally, after three tries and not actually arriving at the restaurant, Luna decided to take over. Luckily, her thoughts were a little more focused than his, so they finally arrived at the restaurant.

The waiter immediately recognized both Luna and Draco, and showed them to the back table, which just so happened to be Luna's favorite place to sit. This wasn't a coincidence. Draco had specifically asked that that table be left for them. He knew that Luna liked to sit in a spot where she could see everyone, as she enjoyed watching people. She'd confessed to him once before while they were there, that she liked to make up little stories about what was going on at each table. It was a game she and her father had started many years ago, and he had to admit it was actually pretty fun. So, once their orders had been placed and their drinks had been brought to the table, Luna scooted her chair around so that she was sitting as close to Draco as possible and was able to see the rooms occupants, and the pair started their little guessing game.

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"No, I'm telling you, their not married. That's his mistress," Luna argued, still not believing Draco's claim that the young couple huddled together across the restaurant were husband and wife.

"Their both wearing wedding rings," Draco scoffed, sure that he was right. They'd been going at this little game of theirs for nearly an hour, and Draco was absolutely positive that he had this couple pegged. Luna was quite good at the game, but after an hours practice Draco felt that he'd finally picked up on it. "Only married people wear wedding rings, so obviously their married."

"I don't doubt that their married," Luna countered. "Their just not married to each other."

"How the hell would you know that?" he snipped, as he signed the bill that the waiter brought over to their table. "What, are you a seer now too?"

"No," Luna laughed. "But their rings aren't part of a set. His is gold and hers is platinum. If they were married to each other their rings would most certainly match." Draco was lost for words. He couldn't figure out how he'd missed that little detail, but it was definitely a damning one no matter how much he wanted to argue it. Luna knew that she was right, and she took his lack of a response to mean that he knew that she was right too.

"You ready to go?" Draco asked, knowing that he'd been defeated. "The movie starts in about twenty minutes and we can't apparate to the actual theater or we'll scare the shit out of the Muggles. I figure we can apparate to platform 9 and 3/4. It's only a five minute walk from there."

"Sounds perfect," Luna replied, standing and letting Draco help her put on her coat. Thanks to the change in seasons, it was quite nippy outside that evening. "Do you know what the movie is about?"

"It's called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," Draco said, a dead serious look on his face. Luna's eye's were wide with shock.

"What?" she asked. "They know about Harry and his first year at Hogwarts?"

"Yep," Draco replied. "Potter told them everything, and from what I hear, he's making a nice chunk of change for it."

"But then everyone will know about our world!" Luna exclaimed, seething with anger. "He just can't step out of the spotlight can he. It's like being a God in our world isn't enough for the wanker!"

"I'm just joking, Love," Draco laughed, barely able to control his temper. He hadn't actually thought she'd fall for it. "I was just screwing with you. The movies really called Saw III," he informed her, while removing a piece of paper from his pocket. "The Muggle paper's description said, 'Jigsaw has disappeared. With his new apprentice Amanda, the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police, has once again eluded capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Doctor Lynn Denlon is unaware that she is about to become his latest pawn on his vicious chessboard. One night, after finishing a shift at her hospital, Lynn is kidnapped and taken to an abandoned warehouse where she meets Jigsaw, bedridden and on the verge of death. She is told that she must keep the madman alive for as long as it takes Jeff, another of his victims, to complete a game of his own. Racing against the ticking clock of Jigsaw's own heartbeat, Lynn and Jeff struggle to make it through each of their vicious tests, unaware that he has a much bigger plan for both of them...' Sounds creepy, doesn't it?" Draco asked.

"Just a bit," Luna replied, unsure if this was the sort of movie she'd want to see her first time out. The look on her face was priceless, Draco thought. She looked really scared, and they hadn't even left the restaurant yet.

"Don't worry, Love," he laughed. "It's just pretend."

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Luna wasn't a happy camper, that's for sure. The movie had not only been very graphic and bloody, but it had been scary as hell. She probably wouldn't sleep for weeks. Leave it to Muggles to make something so disgusting. Truth be told, though she was shocked, Luna had loved the movie. Not so much the one she'd seen, but the idea of them was wonderful. The moment they had left the theater, Luna made Draco promise her that she would get to pick the next movie that they saw.

Personally, Draco thought it was hilarious how scared Luna had gotten. Hell, he'd even been pretty disturbed by what he'd seen, but he wasn't about to let her in on that detail. At several points throughout the movie, Luna had actually screamed, along with several other girls, and one guy, in the theater. Just to screw with her, since he knew she was all worked up about the movie, while they were walking back to platform 9 and ¾, Draco trailed behind her and hid when he was sure she wasn't looking. While she was looking for him, and getting more and more scared the longer it took to find him, Draco snuck up behind her and yelled boo! Unfortunately, he hadn't actually thought this through. If he had, he would have known that Luna was a quick draw and he could have saved himself from having to experience a rather nasty bat-bogey hex. But no matter how much it smarted, Draco was sure that Luna's freaking out when he scared her was well worth it.

"You're a jerk, Malfoy," Luna snapped, as she stormed down the street, Draco trailing behind her, still laughing about how loudly she'd screamed when he snuck up on her.

"You were like, ahhh!" Draco struggled to say between laughs. "Priceless."

"Asshole," Luna mumbled, just as they reached the front door of Malfoy Manor. "Can you go get Landon please?"

"What?" he asked, finally quelling his laughter. "You're not coming in?"

"To Lucius Malfoy's house?" she asked, biting back her own sarcastic laughter. "I don't think so."

"Come on," he goaded. "My father doesn't bite... or at least I don't think he does..." Taking her hand, Draco opened the door and dragged Luna inside, ignoring her very vocal objections. Once inside, he shut the door behind them and stood in front of it so she couldn't dash out. Glaring at him, Luna conceded and allowed Draco to lead her to where Landon was being kept. As she walked through the house, Luna could see why Draco had been so eager to change up the decor of his own home. Malfoy Manor certainly wasn't inviting. Though it was definitely well cared for and lavishly decorated, it seemed like the sort of place you visited to endure endless hours of torture that would ultimately cause your death. Just as they were coming to the end of a long hallway that led to the sitting room, Luna saw a portrait of a baby on the wall.

"Draco," she said. "I didn't know you had a sister. I thought you were an only child." The portrait on the wall was of a very cute child, who couldn't have been more than a year old.

"I am," Draco said, turning to see what she was talking about. An annoyed frown formed when he realized which portrait she was looking at. "That's me." Luna didn't even bother to hide her laughter.

"You were such a dainty little baby," she joked, pinching his cheeks playfully.

"Yeah, well I bet you looked like a girl too."

"I hope so," she replied, "seeing as how I am a girl."

"Ha, ha," Draco mocked, playfully pulling her into the sitting room where he could hear his parents talking. The sight before them was quite comical. Lucius was lying down on the settee, his usually pristine clothing a wrinkled and twisted mess, with Landon lying on his chest fast asleep, while Narcissa was sitting in a nearby armchair looking at a magazine. The moment Lucius saw Draco and Luna he stood and eagerly handed the baby over.

"I don't know how you do it," Lucius said, shaking his head, his disheveled mane swinging back and forth. "He spit up on me three times. Three times!" Lucius pointed to various spots on his shirt. Using a spell, he'd managed to rid himself of the mess but apparently that wasn't enough to make him forget what had happened. "You're a saint in my book," Lucius laughed, leaning down kissing Luna on the forehead. Draco couldn't hide his laughter when he saw the look of absolute terror on Luna's face, when Lucius had kissed her. She looked like she was about to run out of the house. Without another word, the very tired looking Lucius headed for the stairs so that he could go to bed.

"I thought I'd give your father a taste of what Dobby and I had to deal with when you were a baby," Narcissa explained. "He may have made a fuss about it just now, but your father was wonderful with Landon all evening. I believe they're the best of friends... so long as he doesn't get sick on your father again. He really does fancy his shirts without baby spit up on them."

"Who doesn't," Luna joked, her nerves calming now that Lucius had left the room. Landon had long since awoken and was busy winding his little fingers in his mothers hair, while she bent down and showered him with kisses. As per usual, it didn't take long for Draco to stake his claim and remove Landon from his mother's arms.

"So, how was your movie?" Narcissa asked. Luna rolled her eyes while Draco laughed.

"The premise is fantastic," Luna answered. "Just don't let your son pick the film." Narcissa nodded, knowing exactly how mischievous Draco could be when he wanted to. "Thank you so much for watching Lanny for us. It was really nice to get out for a while, even if your son ensured that I was frightened out of my wits."

"It was my pleasure," Narcissa assured Luna, before kissing Landon and her goodnight. "Anytime you need someone to watch him, just let us know." Turning to Draco she said, "Make sure you ward the house up after you leave, Winky's already gone to bed," before kissing him goodnight and heading up stairs.

"Weird," Luna whispered.

"What's weird?"

"I guess I just had a different picture in my mind of how your family acted," she replied, as they headed for the door.

"You and everyone else," Draco said, nodding as he led his family out.

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Once they'd returned to their own home, Draco and Luna tucked Landon to bed. As they always did, they sat next to his crib and read him his bedtime story. This was mostly done out of habit, seeing as how Landon was already fast asleep and couldn't hear a word they were saying. But they'd done it like this every night for months and it was a hard habit to break. Once their story, 'The Little Broomstick that Could' was finished, Luna and Draco tip-toed out of the nursery.

This was the part of the evening that Draco had been most nervous about. He wasn't exactly sure how to go about ending his first real date with the mother of his child. He'd been stressing over this all day, but he did the only think he was sure was appropriate, he hugged her. When he pulled away and turned to head to his own bed chambers, all Luna could do was stare at him stunned. She remained in her spot until she heard his bedroom door click shut.

Angrily, Draco pulled his shirt over his head, inwardly cursing himself for being so lame. He couldn't believe he'd just hugged her goodnight... hugged! Of all of the things he could have done, he chose the single most ridiculous of the them. Hell, he'd done more than that he first time they'd had an actual conversation together. As he threw his shirt at the clothes hamper in his lavatory, Draco heard someone knocking at his door. Part of him didn't even want to open it, knowing that it was Luna coming to rag on him for being such a dork, but eventually he went to let her in.

Without saying a word, Luna reached up and took his head in her hands and kissed him goodnight, before turning to leave. Draco was lost for words, which didn't happen often. As he flopped down onto his bed, he couldn't help but feel like things between him and Luna were headed in the right direction.

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SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE. I'M STILL WAITING ON SPRINT TO SEND ME A NEW MODEM FOR MY DSL, SO MY INTERNET CONNECTION AT HOME IS STILL DOWN. I HAD TO WAIT UNTIL I GOT BACK TO WORK TO UPLOAD THIS. THE UPSIDE IS, I'VE GOT CHAPTERS 22 THRU 24 READY TO POST, SO THERE WILL BE SEVERAL UPDATES WITHIN THE NEXT DAY OR SO.

THANKS AND ENJOY : )

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