Happenstance

Chapter 24: Changes

Draco was right when he'd said that it would take no time for their house to be remodeled to fit their new living arrangements. In just a few hours time, Luna's bed chambers had been converted into a huge playroom for Landon to use once he was a bit older, and Draco' s chambers had been modified to contain an extra lavatory and a closet that was twice the size of the original one. Luna loved their new living arrangements. It had only been two weeks since they'd begun sharing a room together and her sleeping habits had improved immensely. Ever since Landon had been born, Luna found it difficult to sleep through the entire night, convinced that she needed to check on him every few hours, but now that she was sharing a bed with Draco, Luna didn't have any trouble sleeping through the night; only waking when Landon was actually crying out for her. She couldn't believe how comforting it was to have someone next to her at night, and it was a feeling that Luna didn't plan on letting slip away anytime soon.

Luna wasn't the only one enjoying their new arrangement. Draco was in heaven too. Not only did he enjoy the fact that she was always at his side during the night, but their sharing a bed greatly increased the frequency of their sex life. That hadn't been Draco's reason for asking her to share a room with him, but it was definitely a perk; one that he was enjoying to the fullest extent.

Draco had been really excited when Luna agreed to change Landon's last name to Malfoy, but he hadn't actually expected her to do it. But Luna had kept good on her word and the following business day after they had made the decision, the couple, along with their son, showed up at the Ministry so that they could have Landon's last name changed.

At first the Ministry employee was shocked to see that they were there to change the baby's surname. Shortly after word had gotten out that Draco was the father of Luna's son, several articles had been printed making false claims about their situation. Some of the articles had been absolutely ridiculous, especially the ones that were trying to determine how the admittedly unexpected couple had first gotten together. One of the few pieces of information that had been correct had been printed by, big surprise here, Rita Skeeter. She had interviewed the medi-witches who had been present during Landon's birth and they had all made it very clear that Luna had put up a big fuss over the naming of her son. Typically, the child bears the surname of the father, but Luna absolutely refused to tell them who the father was, instead she insisted that Landon have her last name.

Once the Ministry employee was able to get over her shock of seeing Luna in the office to change Landon's surname, the process went fairly quick. Within just under an hours time, Landon Cooper Lovegood became Landon Cooper Malfoy.

Normally, name changes were listed in the Daily Prophet, but Draco wanted to surprise his father with the news, so instead he requested that it be kept quiet. The only problem was that once Draco figured out what exactly his job entailed, he suddenly found himself a lot busier than he'd previously been. This made it difficult for him to arrange a time for him and Luna to fill their families in on the news. Deciding that she was tired of keeping secrets, Luna went ahead and put together a family dinner so that they could tell both his parents and hers. Luna figured that if they didn't hurry up and tell their families about the change of Landon's name, someone else would. It had already been over two weeks since the change had taken place and Luna knew their secret was bound to come out.

"Draco!" Luna shouted from the kitchen, as she situated the veal chops she had just finished preparing on the plates. When Draco didn't answer, she called out for him again, "Draco!"

"Yeah?" he asked, as he walked into the kitchen with Landon in tow. He was dressed in a very dapper black suit. Instead of wearing a tie, Draco had elected to leave the first few buttons of his shirt undone, going for a slightly more casual look. "Did you need help with something?"

"I just wanted to make sure that Landon was dressed and ready," she chirped, leaning over to kiss him as he walked passed. 'We are so bloody domestic,' Luna thought, laughing quietly to herself.

"Is there anything I can do to help so you can go get dressed?" Draco asked, lying Landon down in a nearby bassinet. "I'm not much of a cook, actually I suck at it, but if you want me to watch the food for you, I can."

"Actually, all that's really left is for the steamed asparagus and the potatoes to be put on the plates with the veal chops, and then stick a warming charm on them, so they don't get cold. Do you think you can manage that for me?"

"Absolutely," Draco chirped, removing his blazer and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. Clapping his hands together loudly, signaling that he was ready to begin, Draco started dishing out the vegetables while Luna dashed upstairs to get dressed.

Since she'd showered, curled her hair and put on her makeup before she began cooking supper, all Luna had to do was get her dress on. Ever since her last encounter with Draco's parents, Luna was a great deal more comfortable with the idea of being around them. So instead of trying to impress them with some fantastic gown, Luna decided to dress more like her usual self. She had elected to wear a floaty, cap sleeved, mini baby doll dress that fell to the upper thigh. The fun, flirty dress was made of a chiffon material that had large bright flowers over a black background. Luna completed her look with a pair of black panty hose and metallic, seafoam-green, strappy platform sandals, that matched some of the flowers on the dress.

Just as she heard their guests arrive, Luna was checking her hair, which she had left down and curled, in the mirror. Once she was sure she was satisfied with how she looked, Luna grabbed a pashmina from the closet and headed downstairs.

Apparently, Luna wasn't the only one who was feeling more comfortable with visiting the newest members of their family, as Lucius and Narcissa had both toned down their usual ostentatious apparel. Luna had to stifle a giggle; she was sure that Lucius hadn't dressed up because he was afraid that Landon would get sick on him again, but she wasn't about to mention it.

A few moments after Lucius and Narcissa had arrived, Luna's father, along with Rosmerta, knocked at the door. Once the necessary greetings had been exchanged, Luna directed everyone towards the dining room. To Luna's surprise, as they were walking, Lucius Malfoy came up behind her and looped his arm with hers before leaning down and whispering so that only she could hear him.

"You look absolutely lovely this evening, Miss Lovegood," Lucius whispered, offering her a confident smile.

"Thank you, Sir," she muttered, unsure of what else to say. Deep down, Luna was wondering just what he had up his sleeve. She'd been trying to give the elder Malfoy the benefit of the doubt, but his behavior was just too uncharacteristic to not make her suspicious.

"Call me Lucius," he corrected. That allowance threw Luna for a bit of a loop; it would certainly take some getting used to, that's for sure. "My son seems happier than I've ever seen him before."

"I hope he is," Luna replied, a small smile on her face. "I know I am."

"Believe it or not, my dear, I want my son to be happy," Lucius informed her. "Clearly, he's happy with you, and I can see why. I'm looking forward to the day you actually join our family."

"What?" Luna asked, stunned. "Draco and I haven't even talked about marriage lately."

"I know that," Lucius assured Luna. "But its only a matter of time before he brings it up. My son is not a patient boy... err, man, and he's been talking about marrying you since the day he told us that Landon was his son. You're destined to be a Malfoy, my dear, so I suggest that you accept it. Besides, there are worse things that could happen."

"Draco hasn't brought marriage up in a while, but we'll cross that road when we get their," Luna replied, suddenly very uncomfortable with how close Lucius was to her. It was in that moment, that Luna realized just what she was up against; at no point in her life had she ever expected thoughts of Lucius Malfoy being hot to cross her mind. If Draco turned out to be half as persuasive as his father was, she would never stand a chance when he did decide to bring up marriage again; not that she was completely opposed to the idea.

"Luna," Narcissa exclaimed. "This smells fantastic! What did you make this time?"

"Oh, it's veal chops with asparagus, new potatoes and white corn for the main course. Cream of broccoli soup for starters, and what I hope is a to die for chocolate souffle, for dessert."

"Sounds wonderful," Luna's father said, a proud smile on his face. "But what are you having, Love. You don't eat meat."

"I've got some pasta with seasoned tofu made for me," Luna said, happily, glad that her menu was going over so well. "If any of you want that instead, you're more than welcome to have some, there's plenty." The room erupted in a mass of polite mumbling; apparently no one else found tofu to be an appetizing food. "Point taken," she joked.

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All throughout dinner, Luna and Draco had been passing each other nervous glances, neither exactly sure of when it would be best to inform their families about the changes that had recently taken place. Though they thought that they were being secretive, nearly everyone else seated at the table noticed their frequent exchanging of glances. As Luna served dessert, Lucius finally spoke up about it.

"Is there something that you two wanted to tell us?" Lucius asked, nearly causing Luna to trip and drop his souffle on his head. Draco and Luna looked at each other with panicked looks on their faces. "Just spit it out," Lucius sighed.

"Go ahead, Draco," Luna said. "Spit it out."

"Oh, well, we just wanted you all to know that Landon's last name has been changed to Malfoy. We took care of it two weeks ago," Draco informed them all, nervously.

"That's wonderful!" Lucius said, sounding genuinely ecstatic over the news. "I really am glad to hear that."

"Me too," Luna's father said, as he stood and went to give his daughter a kiss. "I told you when Lanny was born that you might as well just give him his father's last name. It would have saved you a trip to the Ministry, that's for sure."

"I know, Daddy," Luna laughed. "You were right and I was wrong." She'd expected that reaction from him, but that didn't mean she wanted to hear it.

"We're sleeping together too," Draco blurted out, realizing his mistake as soon as the words left his mouth. Luna stared at him, dumbfounded. She couldn't believe he'd just brought up their sex life with their parents.

"I figured as much," Lucius replied, rolling his eyes. "Are you that excited to be getting some on a regular basis that you feel the need to announce it at the dinner table? Really, I'm quite sure your mother and I raised you better than that."

"No," Draco amended. "I didn't mean that we were shagging. I mean we are but... I meant that we're staying in the same room now. Luna's old room is now a playroom for Lanny when he's a bit older."

"Oh," Lucius said, nodding. "Well I'm glad to hear that things are on track for your relationship as well. Very glad to hear it." Lucius gave Luna a knowing smile, causing her to blush slightly. Little did Luna know, but Lucius was purposefully toying with her. He wasn't planing on making a move on the love of his son's life or anything, but when Narcissa had brought up her crush on his father a few weeks back, Lucius had vowed to pass on that little tradition. After all, he was a great deal more attractive than his own father had been, why shouldn't Luna find him attractive?

"So, does this mean that you're getting married?" Rosmerta chimed in, sounding very excited.

"No!" both Luna and Draco exclaimed. Luna answered so quickly solely because she didn't want to open that can of worms just yet, while Draco did so because he didn't want Luna to feel pressured. But since neither knew the other's reason for objecting so profusely, they were unsettled by it. "At least not yet," Draco corrected. "We're still very young, so we're going to take things one step at a time."

"Right... what he said," Luna agreed. Deep down, Luna didn't really know if she agreed with his statement. Now that they were making a conscious effort at their relationship, Luna had to admit that the thought of marriage had crossed her mind on more than one occasion.

"So long as you know that inevitably you'll have to marry, I don't see what waiting a while could damage," Lucius said, shrugging his shoulders.

"What do you me 'inevitably'?" Luna asked, not liking his insinuating that she didn't have a choice in the matter. "I don't see why Draco and I ever have to get married."

"Well, my dear. Having children with more than one woman is not allowed in the Malfoy family. If Draco ever wanted to have another baby, he'd have to have him or her with you. And since the two of you have already had a child together, he can never marry anyone other than you. This is my family's way of making sure that the Malfoy fortune, not only remains in the Malfoy family but that it remains a fortune. Dispersal between too many children causes the fortune to dwindle... and we wouldn't want that to happen now would we?"

"What do I care?" Luna snapped, as she turned to Draco. "Why didn't you mention this before?"

"I didn't think it would be an issue. Besides, I don't want to marry anyone other than you, so it doesn't really bother me," Draco explained. "If I can't be with you than I don't want to be with anyone."

"Aww," both Narcissa and Rosmerta sighed, looking at Draco adoringly.

"What about Cho Chang?" Luna snapped, ignoring the other women's reactions.

"She was easy and you weren't letting me get too comfy with you, what was I supposed to do?" he laughed, not wanting his father's proclamation to ruin their evening.

"Jack off," she replied, tersely, causing Narcissa and Mr. Lovegood to practically choke on their souffle. After a few moments of silence, nearly everyone else, save for Luna, burst into laughter. The sight of Lucius laughing so hard he was near tears, was enough to make even Luna start to giggle. Though it took a few minutes, everyone finally settled down, and the room was overtaken by a very awkward silence.

"Luna," Lucius said, breaking the deafening quiet. "I didn't mean to upset you. I didn't know that you were unaware of that stipulation. And though I hate to do it, I feel that you and Draco must also be informed of this... precaution that my ancestors have taken."

"What else could there possibly be?" Draco asked, sounding completely caught off guard. "These ancestors are really starting to annoy me."

"Well, they do that to all of the Malfoy men at some point, so get used to it," Lucius sighed, knowing exactly how his son was feeling. "Now this... precaution I was telling you about, is more of a folk lore than fact. But I can assure you, even though it hasn't been proven, it's very much a truth. Many of the Malfoy men before you have had their first child out of wedlock. Later on, when they tried to marry a witch who had not mothered their first child, their binding was refused. No matter how many times they tried to bind themselves to one another, they couldn't. To make matters all the more complicated, not only do the wizards have to deal with this precaution but so do the witches that they fathered a child with. Anytime one of those witches has ever tried to bind herself to someone other than the Malfoy wizard who got her pregnant, that binding too was impossible. Numerous times, Malfoy men have had very haphazard relations with witches and yet not one ever fathered child with any witch other than the one that gave birth to their first child. More or less, what I'm trying to say, is your stuck with each other."

"That's rubbish," Luna scoffed. "Not to mention impossible."

"This is magic we're talking about, dear," Lucius replied, cockily. "Nothing is impossible."

"Bloody hell," Draco said, laughing. Truth be told, he was actually quite comforted by the fact that Luna wouldn't be able to marry anyone else, he just didn't want her to know that he was happy about it. "That's a lot to take in."

"I'll say," Luna laughed, awkwardly.

"Me too," her father piped in, looking a bit paler than usual. "Well, since we're all talking about marriage, I guess now is as good a time as any to announce that Rosie and I were bound to one another last weekend... Surprise!" Draco didn't give Luna the chance to react to her father's news; he quickly clasped his hand over her mouth and ushered her out of the dining hall and towards the atrium. Once Draco had secured a silencing charm on the room, he removed his hand from Luna's mouth. It didn't take more than a second for her to make it very clear exactly how she felt about the bombshell her father had just dropped.

"That stupid fucking homewrecker!" she shouted, her pale face turning bright red. "She's just going to sit there like I stupid skank, wearing her stupid skank clothes, and trailing after my stupid skank father..."

"You just called your Dad a skank," Draco laughed, unable to stop himself. Draco didn't have a chance to say another word because Luna threw herself at him, causing them both to fall back onto a nearby loveseat. In no time, the pair were a tangle of arms and legs, as they kissed each other passionately. Draco had never known Luna to be so forward before and he certainly did know where her sudden need to shag him had come from, but he wasn't about to start asking questions. If she equated being angry to shagging him senseless, he was a happy camper.

It hardly took her a minute to rid him of his blazer, oxford and undershirt; she'd even managed to remove her shoes, pantyhose and knickers. As she straddled his lap, Draco happened to glance over her shoulder and caught sight of all of their guests staring at them through the glass walls of the atrium. It took Draco several moments to realize that his and Luna's families were watching, but when he did he panicked and jumped up, sending a very startled Luna crashing to the floor.

"What's the matter with you?" Luna exclaimed, reaching up from her position on the floor at his feet and trying to undo his pants.

"Luna," he said, swatting her hand away. She didn't get the picture, instead she tried to remove his pants again. "Luna, we have company." Draco pointed towards the group outside of the glass atrium. When she finally saw them, Luna's entire body turned bright red and she buried her face against his thighs. Begrudgingly, Draco removed the silencing charm from the room and went to retrieve Landon from Mr. Lovegood's arms. "Hi."

"Hi," everyone greeted, trying to stifle their laughter.

"We're going to go ahead and head on home," Lucius said, eying his half naked son with a look of pride. At his words, everyone turned to leave.

Just before he lost sight of his guests, Draco remembered that there was something he had wanted to talk to his father about; something that was really important.

"Father, wait up!" Draco shouted, jogging to catch up with him. Before he addressed his father, Draco turned to Luna's father and whispered, "Just give her a couple of days. Once the shock wears off, she'll be fine."

"I knew this would be hard for her to take," Mr. Lovegood said, smiling knowingly. "That's why we didn't mention it before now. You guys have a lot on your plate right now, so Rosie and I just went down to the Ministry and had the binding taken care of. Maybe in a few years we'll have an actual ceremony, but for now all we really needed was each other."

"Congratulations, Mr. Lovegood," Draco said, genuinely meaning it. He knew that Luna was only reacting out of shock; she was very protective of her father and he didn't doubt it would take her a few days to come to terms with what he had told her. "I'm sure you two will be very happy together."

"We will," Luna's father said, a bright smile on his face. "You just make sure that my daughter and grandson stay as happy as they are now."

"Will do," Draco said, offering him a mock salute.

Once everyone except for his mother and father were gone, Draco turned to them and asked in a very low voice, "I need some help with procuring a highly restricted artifact, and I'm pretty sure that you're the only person with enough pull to get his hands on one." Draco could tell his father liked his choice of words. Power and Lucius Malfoy went hand in hand, there was no doubting that, and Lucius loved it.

"What did you need?" Lucius asked, not sure of what his son would need with something the Ministry had placed restrictions on. Leaning in closely, so that only his parents could hear him, Draco told them what it was.

"Those are impossible to come by," Lucius said, shaking his head. "Not even I can manage that. I'm pretty sure that I'm the last person the Ministry would let get near one of those, for fear of what I might do with it."

"I've got one," Narcissa chimed in, a proud smile on her face. Both Lucius and Draco stared at her in shock.

"You do?" Lucius asked, not sounding too happy. "And why wasn't I informed of this?"

"Because I didn't want you to have that sort of power at hand," she replied, matter of factly. "I'll bring it by tomorrow morning."

"Thanks, Mum," Draco said, sounding relieved. Kissing his mother and shaking his father's hand, Draco bid them farewell before turning back and heading towards the atrium to tend to his frustrated girlfriends needs.

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