Family Rights (that aren't always right)

A few weeks after the letter Lucius had received from McGonagall, she called Luna back after class, knowing she didn’t have any other lessons after.  

“Miss Lovegood,” said Professor McGonagall looking at the young blonde as she stayed seated.

“Yes professor?” she replied, wondering why her teacher would keep her back.

“Please come with me to the Headmasters office.”

“Why?”

“Do not ask questions, just follow me.” 

Luna nodded, wondering why she was called to the headmasters office. It was only her fourth week of school, and she hadn’t done anything wrong… Nothing that she would have been caught for anyway.

She followed professor McGonagall all the way to the headmasters office, they stopped in front of a gargoyle and the professor said ‘acid pops’ quietly. Magic stairs appeared, and they quietly walked up the steep staircase. They stopped at the large wooden door, and McGonagall knocked on it three times. 

“Enter”

Came a reply, that was the headmaster. McGonagall opened the door, and ushered her in. A gasp came from inside the room and Luna turned her head. She was overwhelmed by the strong familiar magic coursing through the room. Strange, she only felt that magic with Draco...She turned to whoever gasped and looked at them in surprise. Familiar magic came from these strange people who…resembled her? There was a strange man who looked eerily similar to her mother. A distant memory came up from when she was a child, her mother mentioning she had a twin brother. That must be him. Her Uncle. He looked close to crying. She saw Draco standing behind a pretty blonde woman who sat gracefully in a chair next to a man who looked like….

“Daddy?”

Draco’s expression turned into disbelief and mild disgust. He looked at his father incredulously. 

“Dad?”

Lucius looked between the two children and looked at Luna again with wide eyes, nearly panicking  “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!!!”

Professor McGonagall’s hand went to her mouth in an attempt to quiet her silent laughter. Oh my this was far more humorous than she had anticipated. Dumbledore looks on amusedly. He had to admit, he had been imagining how this encounter would go and it went quite as he had expected. He cleared his throat. “Ah, Lucius, would you like to explain to young Luna here who you are and what is happening?”

“Lucius? My dad's name isn’t Lucius” A crestfallen look appears as she thinks of her father. 

Lucius looks at her hesitantly, not knowing what to say “I-” Lucius seems to regain himself “I am not your father… I am… your fathers brother.” (DUN DUN DUUUUNNNNNN)

A look of understanding crosses the young girl’s face “Ohhhh Uncle Luci”

“Uncle what-?”

“Uncle Luci!”

“Uncle what ?”

“Uncle LUCI ! Daddy always called you that when he talked about you” 

Lucius seems to have been stunned into silence looking at her disbelieving. Of course his brother would continue the tradition of calling him by that ridiculous nickname.

Draco snorted, quickly covering his mouth in an attempt to stifle the laughter, while his grandfather just stares at Luna like he can’t believe what just came out of her mouth, glancing at his wife, who merely looked amused, still threateningly holding a bottle of Ogden’s Whiskey ‘just in case.’ 

On the other side of the room, Evan looks on, mirth dancing in his eyes. Luna….Looked exactly like his sister, maybe some features were from Xenophilius, but she was all her. Down to the shape of her eyes, her nose and lips - Salazar even the way she walks! But he could see Xenophilius in her, her dimples when she smiles, the crinkle of mischief in her eyes. Her eye colour, hair colour. 

He turns and looks at his father who is watching Luna with a wistful expression on his face. He's thinking about Pandora, he thought to himself. Pandora and Father were always close. He looks to his mother, who has her arms crossed and looks to be….sulking? Goodness gracious this woman. How did she become a mother to begin with? But there is a slight look of guilt and remorse there, hidden, under her ‘scowl’. 

Evan got up and walked towards the girl, he saw how a look of recognition dawned on her face. He knew he looked similar to his sister, she must be remembering her. This must be all confusing for Luna, she was only 11 after all. Too young and too innocent. 

“Well then” Dumbledore said, clasping his hands together “now that introductions are introduced, let's get to the bottom of our business shall we?” 

Evan shots him a glare then stops in front of Luna. She looked up at him softly and smiled, so similar to Pandora and asked dreamily: “You must be my Mother’s twin. She spoke a lot about you when she was still alive”. A feeling of regret washes over him. He wished he had tried to interact with his sister more, that he had tried to keep in contact with her and her family. That he was there when she was alone and dying. That he could see her again and tell her how much he missed her, embrace her, smell her comforting scent. 

Evan glances around the room, unsure how to process his current emotions in the crowded room, turning to humour instead of letting the tears fall.
“Look at that! Lucius Malfoy, the current Malfoy Lord, left speechless over a nickname. Why, I may try and adopt that myself…”

Lucius looks at him with a look of annoyance and apprehension flashing in his eyes:

“Don’t. You. Dare. Rosier”

“Try me, Malfoy”

McGonagall steps between the two men, rolling her eyes at their never changing antics, struggling to conceal her chuckles behind her clearing her throat.
“Ahem… however amusing this interaction between the two of you is, you can continue this… whatever this is… outside of this meeting, as we only have a limited amount of time before Miss Lovegood and Mr Malfoy have to head down to dinner” She shoots Dumbledore a barely disguised glare that nobody picks up on, before walking so she is standing beside him in front of his desk, facing the two families and Luna.

“We are here to talk about the matter that should’ve been addressed when it first happened, instead of during the middle of the term ”

Another glare gets shot in Dumbledore’s direction, though he just brushes it off with a twinkly smile, adjusting his glasses. McGonagall continues,

“The facts are, Luna is left an orphan with no family to her name, and both of her parent’s families wish to adopt her into their family as their own. Usually this would be a simple matter of the late Father’s family taking responsibility for the child, but since both parents were disowned from their families, that makes the matter much more difficult, since neither family can just be given the child unless the parents’ will clearly stated it and/or there was no opposition from the other family. I would recommend that if neither of you wish to back down on this, to take it to the Wizengomot, so at the very least, some sort of custody over Luna can be arranged.”

Both families grumble between themself, with both Evan and Lucius staring at each other with eerie similarities to two cats staring down each other in a battle of dominance, before both men look away at the same time. Luna looks between everyone from the middle of the room with an air of someone trying to untangle a particularly frustrating knot, whereas Draco seems to be having several issues processing what Professor McGonagall said, and what that’s going to mean for him, quietly muttering questions to his mother, who answers them in an equally hushed tone, though her gaze is on the young girl, trying to figure out where she stands in all of this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a couple more semi-heated arguments between the adults, Draco and Luna finally left the office and walked out together. Draco glancing at her every now and then, everything made sense now. She wasn’t the ‘secret sibling’ that Blaise and Theo teased him about. She was his cousin. She was his cousin from an uncle he never knew about. From an uncle that was never even mentioned. Thinking back to his childhood, he reflected how grandmother had seemed… attached to a particular room, looking at a portrait of one Malfoy boy. He always assumed that it was his father, but now presumably it was his late uncle Xenophilius. 

More things started to click into place.

A heavy silence enveloped them as they walked slowly down, both lost in their own thoughts. “So,” Draco started awkwardly, “you’re.. my cousin.”

“I..I suppose so” Luna replied in that same dreamy voice, but it sounded like it was going to crack. “Daddy always talked about a brother…he never mentioned a cousin.”

Silence again. Then: “Do you think… Do you think I could have Yule with you now? Daddy always made a big deal out of it and since it's my first Yule without him…” She trailed off, looking at him with big, hopeful eyes. They looked almost pleading, like she was begging to not be left alone. To at least have someone around. Even though that someone was family she had just met. 

“I don't think father would allow you to spend it alone either way” Draco replied harshly, though his gaze softens very slightly when it lands on her. She just nodded in response. They didn’t say anything again after that, both lost in their own thoughts. Minds whirling with the new news they have both just been presented with. 

Draco walked her back to Ravenclaw tower, making sure that she got there safely before heading back to the Slytherin common room. Mother would have had a fit if he hadn’t walked Luna back. 

Luna said a quiet goodbye and asked if they could see each other again. He said of course, she is his cousin after all. Family is important to the Malfoy family, it’s one of their many ideals.

Draco muttered saltily, more to himself than Luna; “well my dad never mentioned an uncle nor a cousin.”

“That’s sad”

“I suppose so”

After that, Draco walked quietly back to his common room, lost in his own thoughts. When he got there, he saw his friends sitting on the couch in the common room in front of the fireplace, giving him curious looks. 

“What happened, Draco?” Blaise asks, watching his friend curiously. “Kind of weird for your dad to come to Hogwarts this early in the semester.”

“I have a cousin” Draco blurted out, looking at his friends incredulously, words tumbling out in a rush “Luna Lovegood is my cousin. Apparently- apparently her father and my father are brothers. Her father left the family and made the name Lovegood and now it makes so much sense that she looks like me and-”

“Woah slow down” Theo uttered, looking at him with wide eyes. “Lovegood is your cousin?”

Draco nodded mutely. 

“Well, now we know why you two look so alike.”

He nodded again. 

"Damn so it wasn’t the ‘secret sibling’ thing but instead was the ‘cousin-you-never-knew-about.’ thing”

Draco stared at his friend, then burst out laughing, feeling the tension, expectations and thoughts from before falling away.

“That's exactly what I thought” he said between laughs. Pansy gives him an unimpressed look and then huffs and promptly disappears up into the girls dormitory for the night, not even looking at them.

“What's her problem?” 

“Ah just Pansy just being…..Pansy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Luna got to her classes, her mind still adrift, but it was not unusual for her to look lost in her thoughts. She got to her charms class and found Ginny sitting at the back of the classroom. It was unusual for her to sit in the back but Luna chose to sit next to her anyway. She decided to tell her what had happened but felt this unusual course of ancient magic emitting from her. Which was odd because Ginny normally had magic coming from her but this one felt different. It felt almost….sinister, older. Now looking closely at her she could see dark bags starting to form under her eyes. This didn’t look like Ginny, nor felt like Ginny. 

“Ginny, are you alright?” Luna asked bluntly, looking at her curiously and cautiously.

“Huh?” Ginny looked at her with tired eyes, they looked to be drained, filled with nothing in them. The light going dimmer. Ginny shook her head. 

“Huh? Yes, I am just tired you know…schoolwork and everything” 

Luna looked at her tentatively, Ginny was lying. Ginny never lied to her, she was always honest and told her nearly everything. They were best friends after all. She decided not to press though, maybe another time. She wouldn’t share her new news with Ginny just yet then, she firmly decided. Maybe when that magic had dissipated. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking down the hallway barefoot to her next class which was DADA with (that liar of a teacher) Lockheart, Luna spotted her cousin and his friends passing by. She waves at them and Draco waves back warily. Theo looks between them then dragged the others to her. 

“So you’re Draky’s-” “Hey don’t use that name-!” “cousin” Theo finishes, looking at her curiously and completely ignoring Draco sending him death glares, and somehow dodging the whack aimed at him. 

“Yes I am, Theodore” Theo winces at the name “Please just call me Theo, Theodore is far too formal.”

“Alright” Luna agreed, she sensed that there was something deeper there, but she wouldn’t press further.

“So how is Hogwarts going for you so far?” Blaise asked, trying to make small talk

“Yes it has been rather strange…but lovely as well! Though my things do keep going missing….”

“What do you mean?” Draco asked harshly, whipping his head around to look at her. Things missing?

“Well you see, my housemates and I have a game where they hide my things and I go looking for them, currently it is my shoes”
Draco looked at her uncertainly then looked between his friends. 

“Does anyone know how to do a summoning charm?”

Theo enthusiastically raises his hand but Draco makes a show of ignoring him. “Blaise?” Blaise just shrugged so Draco tried the charm. Then out of nowhere, shoes came swarming towards them and hit Theo straight in the face.

“Ouch” he said, rubbing his face. “Oh look my lady, it's your shoes!” Then he makes a show of giving her the shoes on one knee, dodging Draco’s hand again as he stands up, his friends rolling their eyes at his antics. Luna smiled, they were a fun bunch, when they weren’t being snobby assholes. 

“Thank you” she said warmly and slipped them on. Being barefoot in Hogwarts was not something she liked. “Your welcome” Draco replied lightly, already drafting out a letter in his head to send to his Father. He wouldn’t be pleased about all this. 

“We all better get to class then, see you later!”

“Goodbye!” they replied politely, but as soon as she was out of their sights, frowns appear on their faces. 

“Hiding her things? Sounds like bullying to me.” Draco says quietly, looking at them. The other two nodded. “Professor Flitwick is not going to be impressed by this.”

Professor Flitwick not being impressed by the bullying had been an understatement. He had been furious to say the least. After coaxing Luna to come with them and inform him of the bullying that was happening in his own house. Well… Draco was very glad he wasn’t in Ravenclaw. Quite glad actually. 

At dinner in the Great Hall that night, he had seen how the Ravenclaw hourglass had lost quite a few points, and how most of the Ravenclaws were glaring at him and Luna. 

Luna still sat alone though, with a handful of Slytherin-minded Ravenclaws a couple seats away at Draco’s instruction, but at least she wouldn’t be teased anymore. He hoped. He sent a letter to Father immediately after finding out what was happening. Though the letter wouldn’t reach Father until the next day or later tonight, he hoped it got to him quickly. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Evan felt the euphoria of meeting his Twin’s daughter for the first time starting to wear off. Don’t get him wrong, he was still thinking about her often. Of how small she was, her long platinum blonde hair, her big dreamy eyes. So similar to her mother, yet not… in a way. The meeting hadn’t gone as he had expected, calling Lucius ‘daddy’ was quite hilarious to him and the panic starting to form in Lucius’ eyes was amusing, but not expected. Lucius’ boy seemed to have been acquainted with Pandora's daughter already but that was probably because they had met on the first day of Hogwarts. 

He had seen the gleam in Lucius' eyes and the way Narcissa was already looking at her with adoration. They wanted her to stay with them. But Evan felt that was wrong. Luna should stay with her Mum’s family. Okay maybe not Mother but at least Evan. Her mum’s twin. He had also seen the way Father had looked at her, he wanted custody of her too… but Evan felt that he only wanted custody of her because of how similar she was to Pandora. He felt Father would try and turn her into a Pandora 2.0 and Luna would most likely not be happy with that. She was her own person after all, not her Mother.

It was a losing battle, if he thought about it. Lucius would most likely succeed in gaining custody of Luna. He had all the influences from the Wizengamot, the power as well as holding the Lestrange and Black seats. His influence dictated them and he knew how to use his resources wisely. Evan however, was just a drunk who was wrapped around his own misery. And besides, everyone thought he was dead. Well, not everyone. Certainly Lucius, Nacissa, McGonagall, Dumbledore, the Malfoy seniors and his parents knew him to be alive. Plus now Draco and Luna because of the meeting. But that was about it. 

He wanted to get to know his niece though, he needed to know about her. 

‘She isn’t Pandora’ he had to remind himself. No, she is a completely different person, but she is still his flesh and blood. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Xenophilius’ daughter thinking of him as her father had been unpredictable yet… predictable. All his life, it was said him and his brother looked exactly the same, down to the tip of their noses. But they weren't. Xenos' eyes were always filled with mischief and curiosity, he had foolish dreams and didn’t particularly live by the rules. At least at home. In public he was one of the most wanted bachelors even when he was courting Pandora Rosier or should he say Pandora Malfoy now. Would she still count as a Malfoy? Certainly not, as their name was now ‘Lovegood’, but if they had kept to the rules she would have certainly been a Malfoy. 

Luna, he thought, was a rather quiet and dreamy girl. She did indeed look a lot like Pandora, but he saw Mother in her as well as his brother. A perfect mix of her grandmother, mother and father. 

He had seen the way Evan had looked at her, the love and adoration in his eyes. He knew all Evan saw was Pandora, it was like he was trying to fill the aching gap of his lost sister with his new-found niece. She was the only connection he still has left of her. 

Lucius, however, knew that Luna would never be her mother nor her father. She was very different to the other children he had met and known throughout his life. He couldn’t quite place it, but there was something peculiar about her. Something unique.

Draco certainly seemed to have been used to her at this point, not that fond but she would grow on him in time. Their connection would most certainly be strong, of this he can be sure.

Both of them only children. 

Both of them sharing blood. 

That familial connection. 

Certainly with a few strings, Luna would be in his care and he would have his brother back. No… not his brother. His brother's daughter. He did not know the girl well, but he wanted to. His brother would do the same if he had died and Draco had no one, his brother would take Draco in. 

That is the least he can do in return.