Draco came home and found Luna laying facedown in the sitting room, feet kicking in the air, writing with her muggle pen, listening to some music he had never heard before.
"What is that playing?" he asked.
"It's a cd player." She looked up with a smile. "It's a muggle music machine that Arthur Weasley charmed for us. My mum used to have some of these songs on an old record player, but it was destroyed when the house blew up. By the way, we're invited to the Weasleys for Sunday dinner."
"Why don't you just listen to the Wizard Wireless?" Draco helped her up from the floor so he could get a hug and kiss.
"Well, with a cd player, you can choose the song you want to hear. With Wizard Wireless, it's just whatever song comes on." She told him. "And this is a muggle singer, so Wizard Wireless wouldn't play these songs."
He listened for a few minutes. "He's not bad." He pulled Luna to her feet and swept her around the room in a waltz. "What is his name? Maybe we should ask if he would play for my mother's birthday ball. That would set all the pureblood heads spinning."
Luna laughed. "His name was Otis Redding. And as much as I like the idea, unfortunately, he died in an airplane crash many years ago."
Draco snorted. "Never understood why muggles think traveling about in metal tubes in a good idea."
"If they knew, they would probably not understand the wizard world traveling through fireplaces or on brooms, either." She shrugged.
His retort was preempted by Dimpy coming in to announce that dinner was ready.
She led him to the kitchen, telling him that she frequently listened to music while she wrote, as it kept the wrackspurts away. They hate music.
Draco told Luna that he had spoken with his father, and that his parents had agreed to back off and let Draco spend the remainder of the three months with Luna in relative peace.
"They're having a ball for my mother's birthday next month, and we'll be expected to be there." Draco shrugged.
"Of course we'll go to your mother's birthday." Luna nodded.
There was a loud pounding at the front door.
"Were you expecting anyone?" Draco asked.
Luna shook her head, and asked Dimpy to answer it.
Longbottom stomped into the room and slammed a pouch and a bottle onto the table.
"What the hell ... " Draco began, springing up from the table.
Luna looked from the items to the guest in confusion. "Neville, what are these?"
"I want you to know what you married into, Luna." Longbottom stood nearly chest to chest with Draco, staring at the husband while speaking to the wife.
"I always thought Divination class was a bunch of crap, so why don't you just tell us what you want, Longbottom?" Draco snarled.
"Your father," Longbottom pointed to the items he had placed on the table. "Came to see me. He offered me a thousand galleons to seduce Luna. He gave me a bottle of wine spiked with a potion to, as he phrased it, ensure her interest in accepting what I was offering. And he offered to pay a hooker to come over and show me how to please a woman so I wouldn't be lacking in that area."
Draco snickered. "Well, obviously you took the money and the wine. Did you take the hooker too?"
Luna's grabbed Neville's arm as he pulled back his fist.
"No!" she shoved her way in between them. "You will not fight in my house!"
"You want to go outside, then?" Draco challenged over Luna's head.
"No!" She shouted. "The two of you will stop this right now."
The two men continued to stare at one another over her head.
"Sit down, both of you and talk about this reasonably, or I'll Bat Bogey both of you." Luna threatened.
Draco and Longbottom continued to stare, each waiting for the other to move first.
"If you want to have sex for the next week, you will sit down now." Luna glared at Draco.
He sat.
Longbottom smirked. "Whipped." he muttered under his breath.
"At least I'm getting some." Draco sneered.
"You won't be if you say another word." Luna informed Draco, pointing Neville at another chair.
"So Lucius came to you and asked you to seduce me?" Luna asked Neville.
"Yeah." he nodded. "He was waiting outside my house when I came home tonight."
"And what did you do?" She continued.
"I called him several things I would not repeat in front of you." Longbottom shrugged. "I told him what I thought of the plan, and threw him out. I kept the evidence so I could bring it here."
"We appreciate your informing us." Luna nodded.
Draco jumped as his shin was kicked under the table.
"Yes, we appreciate it." He grumbled.
"I can file charges against him of attempted extortion." Longbottom announced.
"That won't be necessary." Draco shook his head. "I'll handle things with him. He won't bother you again."
"Neville, thank you for bringing this to our attention." Luna stood. "Is there anything else we can do for you?"
"No," Longbottom stood, realizing he was being dismissed. "I just wanted you to know what your own family is trying to do."
"My father. Not me." Draco growled.
"What's the saying? The apple doesn't fall far from the tree?" Longbottom snapped. He walked past Draco, who remained seated, toward the door. "Luna, I will see you soon, right? Take care of yourself, and call me if you need me. If you start to feel strange, particularly after you've had anything to eat or drink ... "
"Thank you, Neville." She smiled as she ushered him out the door. "You've always been a good friend."
She turned to Draco after closing the door. "I would tell you that you were being rude, but you already know."
"Yeah." he nodded, looking at the table.
She walked over behind him, slipping her arms around his chest and laying her head against his shoulder. "Tell me what you're thinking." she whispered.
He huffed. "I'm angry at my father for doing this. And I'm angry at myself for not expecting something like it."
"You don't have any reason to be angry at Neville." She said. "He came straightaway to tell us."
"I know." Draco sighed. "I just don't like him being around, knowing that you dated him for so long."
"Draco, it's obvious there was never meant to be anything more between Neville and me." She assured. "You don't have to be jealous of him."
"I'm not jealous!" he flared. "Malfoys are not jealous. If you want to go sleep with him, whatever."He whirled to look at her. "Do you want to go sleep with him?"
"No." She shook her head.
He pulled her into his lap and laid his head against the top of hers.
"My father is trying to tip the odds. To make sure I can get the divorce when the time comes. He's very determined to merge with Greengrass Industries by marrying me off to one of them." He told her.
"You know, there's always the other side of the coin." Luna suggested.
"What do you mean?" He frowned, looking at her.
"You could sleep with Daphne or Astoria. That way the marriage would still be broken, and you would have grounds for divorce." She offered. "You have the wine."
His brows drew together.
"Do you want me to?" He asked.
"Of course not." Luna looked at him sadly. "But if you wanted to ... "
"Let's just let our three months play out and see what happens then." He kissed her cheek and pulled her against his chest again.
They sat there for quite a while, judging by the lengthening shadows.
Then Draco remembered something.
"Did you say earlier that we're supposed to go to the Weasley's house for dinner?"
"Yes." Luna nodded. "We used to go almost every week when I was younger. There's just been so much going on the past several years that we only do it once every month or two now. But Charlie's even going to be home this weekend, so it will be a big to-do."
"What's a Charlie?" Draco asked.
"Charlie is the second oldest brother. He lives in Romania and works on the dragon preserve." Luna answered.
"Great. So is he going to try to tame me, or bring one of his pets to roast me?" He rolled his eyes.
"I don't imagine he would do either." She frowned.
"Has it escaped your notice that the Weasleys don't exactly like me?" He sighed.
"You haven't given them much reason to." She shrugged. "But it's never to late to start over."
"Oh, I think in this case it might be." He predicted darkly.
"Would you please just try to get along for one afternoon, for me?" She pleaded. "You did say you owed me, for being so understanding about this whole situation."
"Stop." He instructed.
"What?" She questioned.
"I am the Slytherin here. I am the one who is allowed to manipulate and plot. Not you." He gave her a mock serious look.
"I'm learning from you." She smiled serenely.
"I'm going to be in trouble by the end of the three months." He chuckled.
He stood and took her hand. "Come on, let's head upstairs."
"You know, you could sleep in Daddy's bed if you want." She offered. "I mean, I know we were sleeping in the same bed in Norway because there was only one bed, but I know that wasn't what you originally intended. If we had stayed at the Manor, we would have separate bedrooms now."
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" He asked, stopping halfway up the stairs.
"No." She frowned. "I just thought you might be more comfortable sleeping alone."
"Good." He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder playfully, making her laugh. "Because I've decided I hate sleeping alone. Even if you do steal all the blankets."
He slipped out of bed, sometime in the middle of the night, tiptoeing downstairs not to wake Luna.
He picked up the bottle of wine, turning it over in his hands. He sat down at the table, placing the bottle in front of him.
His family expected him to get out of the marriage to Luna. Sleeping with Daphne or Astoria would give them legal grounds for divorce.
Scratch Daphne. It would probably have to be Astoria.
And she would probably be more than willing.
But would the vow allow him to divorce Luna?
The longer he was married to her, the less certain he was he could live without her. He had a pain in his chest every evening by the time it was time to leave work and come home.
Sometimes he wondered if it was the curse, or something Luna had done to him, as his attachment to her seemed to be getting stronger, rather than waning.
But Luna wouldn't do anything like that to him.
Astoria would.
He realized that if he did sleep with her while still married to Luna, Astoria would probably do everything in her power to fall pregnant, to solidify her hold on Draco.
While he understood that he would eventually have children with Astoria, if he married her, he didn't want one with her now.
It would be a slap in the face to Luna, and his wife didn't deserve it.
He thought about Luna's request. Part of him hoped that she didn't find someone to marry, so he could have children with her one day. They would be brilliant, with intelligence from both parents, curiosity from her and an analytical mind from him.
Except that no one would know they were his children.
Pureblood society would accept Luna as his mistress.
Astoria wouldn't.
Draco also had a funny feeling that his parents wouldn't, no matter what his father had said.
"There you are."
Her soft voice startled him, causing him to jump.
"I'm sorry." He said. "I couldn't sleep. I didn't mean to wake you."
"You didn't." She pulled out the chair beside him and sat down. "Well, not directly. I rolled over in my sleep and there was no warm body beside me. I think that's what woke me."
"See?" He smirked. "You didn't really want to sleep alone either."
Her gaze fell on the bottle in front of him, highlighted by the moonbeams shining through the kitchen window.
"You want to go through with it."
There was no accusation in her voice, only quiet acceptance.
"No, I really don't." He answered her truthfully. "I wondered if it would be the best thing for us, but I really don't think so."
"If you want to ... "
He leaned over and kissed her, long and deep.
"No, Luna, I really don't."
She nodded.
"But," he smirked wickedly. "Since my father supplied an aphrodisiac spiked wine, it seems like a shame to waste it. Fancy a glass?"
"No." She smiled. "I'm good without it."
He accioed a glass from the cupboard and poured himself some. "I'm good without it. Let's see if I'm spectacular with it."
"You're still rotten." She told him.
"Some things will never change." He tipped the glass up and finished his wine, then took her hand and led her back to the bedroom.
"Draco." Luna shook him gently. "Draco, wake up. Your alarm charm is going off."
He didn't stir.
"Draco!" she spoke louder and shook him harder. "You're supposed to go to work this morning."
He still didn't stir.
Luna sat up, fumbling for her wand and quickly casting a lumos.
Draco was barely breathing and felt cold to the touch.