Happenstance

Chapter 33: The Gift of Giving

Draco was so nervous. After all of the time and effort he'd put into going back in time to retrieve Luna's research, it was actually time for him to give it to her, and he didn't think he'd actually be able to go through with it. He'd planned the entire evening out in his mind, so it would be perfect, and yet still, he couldn't quite work up the nerve.

After he'd showered and dressed, Draco met Luna down in the foyer of his parents mansion and, after kissing his son goodbye, they left. Luna was a bit more comfortable with the idea of leaving Landon at Malfoy Manor while they were gone, because after Snape had picked Lanny up, the boy had simply refused to leave the older wizard be. Granted, Snape would have preferred to have been baby free that afternoon, he secretly enjoyed the time he was able to spend with the boy. After all, he and his mystery wife were trying to conceive, and it would be good practice. In the back of her mind, Luna had to admit she was worried that Snape might say something mean to Landon, but since he was still a baby and wouldn't understand what his words meant, she didn't let it deter her from leaving her son in his care. Plus, Narcissa had promised that she would keep her eye on them, so Luna was able to breath easy.

Before they headed to the restaurant, Draco took Luna into Muggle London, so that they could go by the bank where he'd stored her research in a safe deposit box. Luna didn't have the slightest idea where they were, and Draco made her wait in the lobby while he retrieved the portfolio from the box. Luna was kind of worried that he was being so secretive about this present he had to give her, but since she loved presents, and Draco also gave really great gifts, she didn't let it hand in her mind too much.

Before shrinking the portfolio down to a size that he could fit into his pocket, Draco charmed it so that it was beautifully wrapped, with a big bow on top. Once it was concealed within his pocket, he rejoined Luna in the lobby.

"So where's this present?" she asked, giddily.

"In due time," Draco said, knowing that the suspense was killing her. "I'll give it to you after supper."

"Is there a reason you're giving me a present?" Luna asked, curiously, as Draco held the door open for her.

"Just cause I love you," he said, knowing that it would earn him big bonus points.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were up to something" Luna said, smirking at him.

"Who, me?" Draco asked, feigning innocence. After making sure that no Muggles could see them, Draco and Luna apparated to the restaurant. Their table and supper, which Draco had ordered ahead of time, was already waiting for them.

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"Can I have my present now?" Luna asked, as she slid her plate that held the remainder of her desert to the side so that the waiter could take it.

"Since you've been so good," Draco said, reaching into his pocket. Knowing that the gift he was giving wasn't actually supposed to exist, Draco had made sure that the table they had been seated at was in one of the secluded back rooms, so that no one would know what was going on. After the waiter had removed their plates and was no longer in the room, Draco enlarged the gift wrapped box that held her research, and waited for Luna to open it. Just as she was getting ready to take the top of the box off, Draco placed his hands over Luna's to stop her. "Before you open it, I just want you to know that I'm not trying to pressure you or anything. I just thought that you might want it back." Taking his hands from over hers, Draco allowed Luna to open her gift.

The moment Luna laid eyes on the familiar worn brown binding of her research portfolio, she knew what it was. But she was conflicted, since she knew that it wasn't possible. All of her research on the Oblivate cure had been destroyed. There just wasn't anyway that it had been salvaged.

"What is this?" she asked, her eyes tearing up. Reaching inside the box, she pulled out the book. Turning it over in her hands, she scrutinized it, sure that this had to be the real thing but still unable to understand how it had happened. Opening it up, the familiar scent of old parchment assaulted her senses, forcing her to let loose the tears she'd been tyring to hold back. Scribbled all over the hundreds of pages of parchment in her neat and tiny handwriting, were the years of research and experiments Luna had conducted before having them ripped away by her former Potions Master several years earlier. "But... how?" she whispered. "It was burned."

"My Mum had a Time Turner," Draco began explaining. "Don't worry, I was really careful with all of my calculations and absolutely nothing was affected by our going back."

"Our?" she asked.

"Blaise and Goyle came with me," Draco replied, earning him a shocked look from his fiance. Luna couldn't believe that Draco would take those two on so dangerous a trip. They weren't all that well known for their tact. "They were great. No one really gives them enough credit. I couldn't have done it without them."

"Snape didn't notice?" Luna asked, still not sure exactly how to express her gratitude to Draco for what he'd done.

"He almost caught me," Draco said, laughing. "I replaced the real portfolio with an exact replica, complete with random research written on the parchment inside of it. So, when he chucked it in the fireplace, he was just burning random notes, not your research. We got out of there before anyone had a chance to notice us."

"Draco... I don't know what to say..."

"You don't have to say anything," Draco assured her, his hand cupped her face so he could wipe away the tears that were steadily falling. "Whether you wanted to admit it or not, I know how much it hurt you to have something so dear to you stolen like it was. I know that it changed who you were as a person, and I wanted to be the one to give it back to you."

"I'd say thank you, but I don't see how that's enough," Luna whispered, her voice cracking due to the intense emotion that she was feeling.

"All I want you to say is that you'll think about starting your research again," Draco said, kissing her on the forehead. "You don't have to promise that you will, just promise that you'll think about it. You have the capacity to do so much for our world. It would be a shame if you didn't at least try."

"I promise I'll try," Luna said, happily. Draco didn't know it, or maybe he did, but losing her research had completely decimated her opinion of people and the world they lived in. The work she'd been doing to continue her mother's dream of a cure for the Obliviate charm, had meant everything to her. She tried to pretend like it was nothing, but that just wasn't the case. It would be impossible to put into words the magnitude of what Draco had done by getting it back for her.

"Oh, and a great shag wouldn't hurt either," Draco added at the last minute, while he was helping her with her coat.

"Trust me," Luna said, clutching her portfolio tightly against her chest. "There are a great many fantastic shags in your future." Draco mouthed the word, 'yes', behind her back.

"Here, let me shrink that and put it back in my pocket," he said, trying to pry her hands off of the portfolio. "Snape is still at the house, and I bet he'd recognize it if he saw it." Begrudgingly, Luna let her research slip out of her hands, but she watched very closely as her soon-to-be husband made it smaller and placed it within his breast pocket. Without warning, Luna kissed him, hoping to some how make him see just how wonderful a person he was, for doing what he'd done, but knowing that no number of kisses would ever be able to express that.

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"Have you seen this evenings edition of the Prophet yet?" Narcissa asked, just as Luna and Draco entered the foyer of Malfoy Manor, so they could pick up their son.

"No," Draco said, happily. "Why?" Narcissa handed the paper to her son, so he could read the rather interesting development that had taken place just hours earlier. The headline on the front page of the Prophet read, 'HARRY POTTER, RON WEASLEY CHECK THEMSELVES INTO REHAB!' "Whoa," Draco whispered, not having expected to see that on the front page.

"Rehab?" Luna asked, looking confused. "Why in the hell would they go into rehab?"

"Didn't you pay attention to the articles and photos that they Prophet prints that account Potty and Weaslby's adventures into to drunkardom?" Draco asked, laughingly. "They've been hooked on the juice for over a year now."

"I don't pay attention to those articles," Luna said, not having expected to hear of her former friends hard luck. "Hermione too?"

"No," Draco said, sounding a bit disappointed. "She's her usual know-it-all self. But I'm pretty sure that she and Weasley are on the outs. Last I saw, she seemed like she was tired of his crap."

"That's terrible," Luna gasped. "I figured they'd get married."

"I thought you'd be happy about this," Draco said.

"Happy?" Luna scoffed. "Why would I be happy to hear of their misfortune?"

"Good point," Draco replied, realizing that he was talking about Luna, not himself. Truth be told, he got a great deal of enjoyment out of their misery. 'It's about time,' Draco thought, relishing in Potter and Weasley's rough luck. As Draco was busy laughing to himself over the headline, Luna took the paper from his hands and began to read the actual article.

...Early this morning, just before departing for the Rehabilitation Clinic at St Mungo's, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley sat down with the reporter for the Prophet, to give them an exclusive statement about their decision.

"It all became too much," Harry Potter said, running his hands through his, even more disheveled than usual, hair. "Everyone was so busy praising us for winning the final battle that no one really stepped back and gave us any room to breath. It was suffocating us." "Yeah," Ron Weasley, agreed. "So, instead of pushing them away, we let them keep at it, and eventually we got caught up in the entire mess. All the parties and admiration got to our heads. Alcohol was an easy way of coping with it."

When asked how it affected their personal relationships, both Harry and Ron agreed that alcohol, along with the fame, directly led to the end of their long term relationships. "I love Hermione with all my heart, but I don't blame her for leaving me," Ron sighed, his blood-shot eyes filling with tears. "How many times can you break a girls heart and expect her to keep coming back? She kept telling me she'd had enough, but I just didn't listen, and now I've got to go through this without her. It sucks, but I brought it on myself. I want to be sober, I really do, we just need people to lay off a bit. Otherwise, I don't see how Harry and I will be able to recover. I just can't believe that this is my life. You know its bad when you're jealous of Draco Malfoy. I just don't see how things turned out so well for him. He's got his life on track and I hate to say it but I envy him. My Mum actually said that I could 'learn a thing or two from him' the other morning." Harry's opinion on the matter, is that, while they're grateful that people appreciate their sacrifices for the war effort, the war's over and they deserves the chance to live their lives just as everyone else does, outside of the public eye. The only reason they came to the Prophet with this was to avoid any other speculation about their whereabouts. "I'm so ashamed of the person I've become," Harry said, his voice cracking as he tried to contain his emotions. "I've been so cruel to people who didn't deserve it, all because I didn't know how to handle things. My life is in shambles and I can't even recall it turning that way since I was too drunk to notice. I want my life back, I want Ginny back, but I know that will never happen. I've just got to move forward. That's why Ron and I are focused wholeheartedly on sobering up and making something of our lives. All we ask is for some privacy."

In return for their openness and honesty, the Prophet has promised Harry Potter and Ron Weasley that all publications of their behavior and exploits will cease until after they have gotten their lives on track. It is our hope that our avid readers, and admirers of two of the bravest hero's our world had ever known, will allow them their space.

"That's awful," Luna said, sounding really sad.

"That's it," Draco said, suddenly, taking the paper out of her hands. "Stop reading that rubbish. I put a lot of effort into making this a nice evening and I'll be damned if Potty's sob story is going to ruin it."

"Draco really..." Narcissa said, chidingly.

"Tell my Mum the wonderful gift I gave you," Draco said, sounding a bit frantic. This was the last thing he needed. He risked so much to go back and get her research and now Potter and Weasley were putting her in a crummy mood. "Go on, tell her."

"He used the Time Turner you gave him to go back and replace the portfolio that had all of my research in it for the cure I was working on for Obliviate, with a fake one, so that Snape destroyed that one, not the real one," Luna said, her mood improving ten-fold. She really did adore Draco for what he'd done, and much to his satisfaction, not even hearing about her former friends woes was enough to spoil it.

"That's why you wanted my Time Turner?" Narcissa asked, sounding really touched. Draco nodded. "That's so sweet. I was so worried when you asked for it and then got all secretive about why you needed it. Does your father know how sweet a boy we raised?"

"Yes," Draco said. "I knew he'd be able to keep a secret, so I told him. If I'd told you, I knew you'd let it slip."

"No, I wouldn't," Narcissa argued, not really believing it herself. She knew that she probably would have accidentally told someone about it. "I can't believe your father didn't tell me."

"I made him promise he wouldn't," Draco informed her, smiling.

"Well," she huffed, "all that aside, I have to say I'm shocked to see that you've turned into such a sweet young man." Draco blushed at his mother's praise. "Your father could stand to learn a thing or two from you, just like Potter and Weasley." Turning to Luna, Narcissa said, "You're a lucky young lady to have my boy love you so much."

"And he's a lucky young man to have her," Lucius interjected, startling everyone. Shortly after Luna and Draco had left, most of the older men who had played in the Quidditch game that afternoon, had taken naps to try to sleep off some of their aches and pains. Four and a half hours later, Lucius was just now waking. "After all, she is one of the most beautiful witches our world has ever seen." Luna's cheeks colored at his words.

"Well you're in rare form," Narcissa huffed, rolling her eyes at her husband. She knew that after the beating his poor ego had taken that afternoon during the game, she'd have to put up with his blatant attempts at salvaging his pride for several more days.

"Where's Lanny?' Draco asked, sounding like he was already sick of his father's lines.

"He's with Severus," Narcissa replied. "Those two have become quite close. I swear, Lanny looks so much like you did when you were a baby, that when Severus holds him, its like we just went back in time nineteen years."

Quickly, since he was eager to get home to cash in on Luna's promise of a fantastic shag, Draco headed towards the sitting room to retrieve his son. The sight before him was certainly unexpected. Snape was lying fast asleep on the settee, with Lanny sleeping on his chest; a position that Draco had often found himself in with his son. It was a comforting sight too. To Draco, this signified that maybe everything would be okay. Maybe, just maybe, Severus would be able to get over his prejudice towards Luna. Because if he hated Luna, on principle, he'd have to hate Landon too; and that just didn't seem to be the case.

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