Happenstance

Chapter 34: Revenge of the Wounded Ego

The five months before Draco and Luna's wedding, quickly began to dwindle, and before Luna knew it, the wedding was just six short weeks away. Most of the important details of the ceremony had already been decided, leaving just Luna's dress and the final guest list in question. The matter of Luna's dress was one that would be easily solved, were she to quit canceling her appointments with the designer. But no matter how hard she tried to keep her appointments, Luna just wasn't looking forward to being cooped up with Rosie, Narcissa and a designer for hours at a time, trying to iron out all of the details for the dress. To be completely honest, Luna was half tempted to have Narcissa and Rosie meet with the designer and decide what her gown would look like without her; after all, Luna just wanted to be Draco's wife, she really didn't care too much what she was wearing when she finally did marry him. The only thing stopping her from delegating the task to someone else, was that she'd seen a photo of Narcissa's own wedding gown, and while it was beautiful, it certainly didn't fit the style of her and Draco's ceremony, or Luna's taste for that matter.

While the matter of Luna's gown was simple enough to solve, the final guest list was not. When Draco had mentioned that he'd pictured them having a small, intimate ceremony, Luna had fallen in love with the idea. She didn't want to have to contend with a large group of people on such an important and personal day. Were it not for Narcissa and Lucius' ever expanding circle of friends, the soon-to-be weds, would have gotten their wish. Draco's parents were insisting on inviting all of their new friends and their families to the wedding, which meant that their small ceremony would end up being quite a commotion.

On top of having to invite their parents friends, Draco and Luna had bumped heads on more than one occasion, as to who they considered to be their own close friends. Luna didn't really categorize Pansy Parkinson, Draco's ex-girlfriend, as a close friend; but Draco did. This was a bit of a problem for Luna. While she knew that her fiance was loyal to her, she didn't trust Pansy in the least. Then there was the fact that Draco hadn't even seen Pansy since they'd graduated from Hogwarts; so why he considered her a 'close friend', Luna didn't know.

Not one to be outdone, since Luna put up a fuss over his wanting Pansy to be there, Draco made it a point to argue whether or not Neville Longbottom was allowed to attend. The problem with Draco's approach to contesting Neville's attendance, was that while Luna said that she didn't want Pansy there, Draco made the mistake of telling Luna that Neville wasn't coming. Luna didn't like that. After all, she was a grown woman, and she simply wouldn't stand for him telling her what she could and couldn't do.

"Where do you get off telling me that I can't invite someone to our wedding," Luna huffed, laying Landon down in his nearby bassinet, so she could devote all of her attentions to her and Draco's impending scuffle.

"You told me that Pansy couldn't come," Draco countered, not willing to budge on his position. "Why is it you can say that, but I can't."

"I didn't say Pansy couldn't come," Luna clarified, glaring at her soon-to-be husband. "I said that I would prefer it if she weren't there. I also said that having her there would make me uncomfortable. At no point did I ever say that you couldn't invite her."

"You threatened to never shag me again!" Draco said, noticing that she'd left that part out.

"I didn't threaten you," Luna scoffed. "I simply said that her involvement in our wedding day may inhibit our future sexual performances."

"Which basically means," Draco mocked. "I'm not shagging you if that skank comes to the wedding."

"Hey, you said it not me."

"That's not fair!" Draco barked. "Look, I know I haven't seen Pansy in a while, but she and I were really close while we were at Hogwarts, and I'd like for her to be there. If you were still friends with Potter and his lap dogs, I wouldn't argue over you inviting them."

"Liar," Luna snapped. "Yes, you would. Why are you so gung-hoe about her being there?" This wasn't like Draco. Normally, he'd go out of his way to avoid this sort of argument. So for him to be so insistent about someone like Pansy being at their wedding, Luna knew that there had to be a pretty important reason for it, and he just wasn't telling her what it was.

"Because during the beginning of our seventh year, she cheated on me with a sixth year Ravenclaw," Draco grumbled, realizing that she wasn't going to let up.

"But you two broke up during seventh year," Luna said, softening her tone a bit. She'd know that there had to be a reason, she just hadn't expected it to be that Pansy had cheated on him. Who cheats on Draco Malfoy?

"We broke up towards the end of our seventh year," Draco clarified. "Three weeks into the school year, I guess I'd said or done something mean, so she'd figured she'd get back at me by screwing some sixth year from another house. Pansy flaunted her escapades right in front of me."

"Any you still stayed with her?" Luna asked, unable to believe that a Malfoy, let alone any one so full of himself, like Draco, would have put up with that.

"My father told me to," he explained. "He'd always planned on me marrying Pansy. It wasn't until after you'd brought up that we were related, how ever distant that may have been, that I flat out told him there was no way in hell I'd marry her. Eventually, he'd given me the okay to call it off. I'm just glad he'd said it was okay to break up with her, before he'd found out that I'd already done it."

"So, if she cheated on you, why exactly do you want her there?" Luna asked, still not sure about his reasoning. "I'd have thought that you'd want to avoid her."

"Because I want her to see how awesome things have turned out for me," he admitted, smiling weakly. "She really hurt me, and I want her to know just what she missed out on."

"Oh," Luna said, nodding. "I get it. She cheated on you with a sixth year Ravenclaw, and now you're marrying someone who, at that time, had been a sixth year Ravenclaw... Ironic, and kind of funny."

"I know its petty, but I'm looking forward to seeing her pretend smile at the ceremony," he admitted.

"How come you took it so personally when she cheated on you, when it was no secret that you'd bed anything that opened its legs." Luna asked, finding it a bit off for him to act so wounded by Pansy's actions, when he'd kind of deserved it for the way he'd treated her. "Don't you think you had it coming?"

"Yeah, I shagged a lot of girls while she and I were together, but it was always made quite clear that it was just sex. I didn't care about the other girls, and I certainly didn't respect them. I never bed the same girl twice, so there was no confusion over what my intentions were. After she'd been with that other kid, she kept throwing it in my face, and she kept going back to him. I never brought up any of the other girls, but I'd have to listen to her tell me that he was so great, and so attentive, and that he was the best she'd ever have, and she was in love with him. Pansy had never even told me she loved, and she was running around professing her love for that clown! Maybe I deserved a taste of my own medicine, but she took it too far."

"I guess," Luna said, not really agreeing with him, but not wanting to argue with him over how he should or shouldn't feel. "If you want Pansy to be there, than I won't argue it anymore."

"Thank you," Draco said, sighing loudly. "If you want Neville there, than I'll go along with it too. I just don't want him messing with Landon. He tries to be his best friend, and it bothers the hell out of me."

"Deal," Luna said, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. In the back of her mind, Luna couldn't help but store what he'd told her about the numerous witches he'd been with while he was still with Pansy. Luna trusted Draco, and she would continue to do so until he gave her a reason not too; but admitting to being a philandering pig wasn't something she could just ignore. "And since you brought it up," she added, resting her forehead against his. "I was thinking about inviting Harry, Ron and Hermione to the wedding. The boys got out of rehab a few weeks back, and I heard that Ron and Hermione are back together. Since they've gotten their act back on track, I was thinking about trying to bury the hatchet with them."

"Please, don't do this to me," Draco whined. "Don't make me put up with them on our wedding day."

"You said that you wouldn't argue with me over this," Luna said, having expected that Draco was lying when he'd said he would be okay with her inviting his former enemies to their wedding.

"I'm not arguing," Draco said. "I'm begging... No, I'm just joking. I'll agree to it, if its what you want."

"I think its what I want," Luna said, giving Draco a sympathetic look while he pouted at her. "Besides, maybe you'll get lucky, and they won't even show up."

"One can hope," Draco laughed, just as Lanny started to cry. A few days earlier, the poor boy had started to teethe, and he was less than pleased about it. True to form, Landon made sure that everyone was well aware of his discomfort. Were it not for Severus Snape, of all people, Lanny's poor parents probably would have gone off their rockers, thanks to Landon's persistent crying. But, being the potions master that he was, Snape had invented a salve for Landon, that soothed his aching gums and simultaneously eased Luna and Draco's headaches.

Severus' willingness to help with such a menial task, surprised both Draco and Luna. He'd always been pretty unwilling to help with even the most important of tasks, so for him to offer up this salve with little prompting, signaled quite a unexpected change in his personality.

Draco knew that this change in his former Potions Master, must be due, at least in part, to his new and still secret wife. He'd known for months now that Snape had married and that they were working on starting a family of their own, but no one, save for Albus Dumbledore who performed their ceremony, had ever met her. Draco knew that the new Mrs. Snape worked in the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable, but as the name suggests, he didn't know what she did there. Truthfully, Draco doubted that Snape even knew.

Even though Draco had never met Snape's wife, he inwardly thanked her every time he came in contact with his former Head of House. The change in his attitude was great, and it made Severus much more pleasant to be around. And this was a good thing, seeing as how ever since Landon had insisted on Snape picking him up a few months back, after a brutal game of Quidditch at Malfoy Manor, Snape had made it a point to come by and see the baby at least once a week. Luna had been shocked when Severus had shown up at their home, claiming to be there to see Lanny, but after an hour of him sitting in the playroom with the baby and not being terribly mean to her, Luna's shock subsided and she worked up the nerve to offer him tea.

While Luna had been shocked when this event came to pass, Draco had been even more shocked to hear about it that night at supper. He was tempted to go to Hogwarts and ask Snape what he was playing at, but thought better of it. After all, why ruin a good thing; and not even Draco could deny that Snape's change in his behavior towards Luna, was a good thing. So instead, Draco bit his tongue, and waited to see if the man who'd, at times, been like a father to him, had ulterior motives.

Much to Draco's surprise, it seemed like Snape was truly being genuine. Draco was finally able to let his guard down, after he'd come home earlier one afternoon, just two months after Severus' strange behavior had begun, and found him and Luna in her painting room, discussing what sounded like her thoughts on the cure for Obliviate. His suspicions had been proven when he'd gotten a glimpse at the worktable, and saw her open portfolio sitting on it. Leaving them be, Draco went up to the nursery to wake Landon up from his nap, the entire time praising himself for giving Luna what she needed to start her research again. In the back of his mind, Draco couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't told him she'd started working on her cure for the Obliviate charm again; but he didn't let her secrecy damper his mood too much.

That evening during supper, Luna mentioned to Draco that Snape had brought up her portfolio while they'd been playing with Lanny, and that she'd taken him down to the painting room that she'd turned into a makeshift lab, so they could discuss it. She'd told Draco that Severus had, without actually saying it, apologized for chucking her research in the fire. He'd told her that it was one of the many terrible things he'd done in his life, that he just wasn't able to forgive himself for. That he hadn't just hurt her, he'd hurt the many people who could have possibly been cured by her research. It was then, that Luna had lied and told Snape that she'd started over, after she'd found out that her portfolio was gone, and that she could still use his help. Severus had jumped at the opportunity to provide her with whatever expertise he could offer. Upon hearing this, Draco's jaw hit the floor. He hadn't expect Severus to offer Luna his help. 'I guess everyone's capable of changing,' he thought. 'Hell, if my father can do it, and I can do it, that must mean that even Snape still stands a chance.'

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