A/N: You have every right to tar and feather me., but this is the longest chapter yet, so I hope that makes up a little for my delay. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your comments. They really inspire me.
You'll be able to tell where I got the idea for this chapter - it's pretty obvious. But what the heck. The parts that are not in italics are the present time. Also, Isabella will be dealt with soon. Don't worry, she'll get hers.
Disclaimer: All characters (except for Caroline and a few others) belong to JKR.
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Chapter 13
Much to Caroline's disappointment, Blaise started to get dressed for the day. "I'm serious, Caroline, you need to get dressed. I don't want Julian coming in here getting an eyeful. That's only reserved for me," he grinned.
"But I'm so comfy," whined the curly-haired blonde as she snuggled into the covers.
Blaise crawled back onto the bed and whispered in her ear. "If you get up and dressed, I promise to do some really naughty things to you later." He gave her a quick smack on her bottom.
That's all it took for her to get out of bed. She scurried about and picked up her clothes and got dressed in a flash. A look of amusement covered her face. "I guess these flannel pajamas didn't scare you off like I had hoped."
"Oh, so that's why you changed," he said as he put his arms around her waist. "I hate to tell you this, darlin', but even if you wore a potato sack, I'd still want you." He lowered his head and gave her a small kiss. "Actually, I think you look pretty sexy in those pajamas. See, he pointed to his crotch. "I'm getting hard just looking at you."
She playfully pushed his chest. "That's not saying much, you'll get hard at anything. I bet you'd get hard just looking at the Mona Lisa."
"Well, she is pretty hot, you know." Blaise ran his hands under her shirt and started to massage her breasts. Caroline moaned and leaned into him wanting more.
"Is there anything that you can look at and not think a sexual thought?" She stood on her toes and started to nibble on is neck.
"Sure, lots of things. Isabella for one." He grinned as he kissed her on the nose. "What a way to ruin a mood."
"You are so bad." She laughed and wrapped her arms around his waist. "And bad boys must be punished."
"Yes, bad boys must be punished," said Draco, with his hands on his hips and murder in his eyes. He stood in the doorway looking way more than pissed off.
"How did you get in here? The doors are locked," said Blaise.
"My house. I can get into anything room – any time." Draco slowly walked into the room and looked at the unmade bed.
"Daddy, don't get bent out of shape. Nothing happened. I just spent the night with Julian and Blaise because Julian was having nightmares. That's all."
Draco walked slowly to the bed. "That's all, huh?" He withdrew his wand. A scrap of pink was showing from under the dust ruffle. He picked the piece of fabric with his wand. It was Caroline's thong.
Caroline muttered, "Oh, shit."
"Yes, oh shit is right, you lying whore!" Caroline flinched. "Here I thought you were this innocent girl and come to find out you've been fucking around since you were fourteen."
"Don't you think that is a little harsh, Draco?" asked Blaise.
"I'm not a whore and I haven't been fooling around. If you want to know who's screwing around, just look at your son."
"And?"
"Oh, so it's okay for him to have sex but not me."
"Precisely. The Malfoy men have always… I am not having this conversation with you." He raised his wand and pointed it at Blaise. "Caroline, don't' get involved with Blaise. You know his track record with women. He has sex with them a couple of times and then goes off to the next victim. He's caused a few broken hearts; I just don't want him to break yours."
"I'm right here, you know," said Blaise.
"Go to your room, Caroline; Blaise and I need to come to an understanding."
Caroline stood in her place next to Blaise and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not going anywhere. This involves me and I'm staying."
"Leave, Caroline!"
"If you're blaming Blaise for all this, you're wrong, wrong, wrong." She narrowed her eyes at Draco. "Since you think I'm a whore anyway, did you ever think that maybe I'm the one who seduced Blaise? Did you ever think of that? Hmmm?"
Then she went in for the kill. "Did you ever think that your little girl would want to fuck your best friend?"
You could have knocked Draco over with a feather. He looked horror-stricken. He raised his hand to hit her when Blaise stepped between the two. "Now, now, let's tone it down a notch." He held both of them back so they wouldn't go after each other.
"You, I'll deal with you in a minute. Now get out of my way. I'm going to wring her pretty little neck."
"Absolutely not. If you want to strangle her, you've got to go through me first." The tall Italian put his hands on his hips.
Draco pointed at her. "You little bitch," he yelled. "I've had it with your bullshit. You have 24 hours to get out of my house. You are no longer my daughter, Caroline."
Feelings of hurt and anger took over. "Well, that works for me. Finally I have freedom and I won't have to live under your dictatorship any longer."
Little Julian was watching from around the door, unseen. He covered his ears because he didn't like that the adults talked mean and loud to each other.
"And you," said Draco as he looked at Blaise, "I can't believe you betrayed me like that. I asked you to keep an eye on her, not sleep with her. We've been best friends forever, and for you to sink so low as to go after my daughter…" He drew back his wand ready to hex Blaise when Julian ran toward Draco and screamed.
"Noooooo! You leave my papa alone." Julian remembered one of the karate moves Robbie had shown him, ran up to Draco and gave him a roundhouse kick to the groin.
Bent over in agony, Draco fell to his knees and the spell that was meant for Blaise hit Caroline in the chest instead. She flew through the air and hit the wall extremely hard, knocking her head on a large sconce. She slid down the wall, unconscious.
Time stood still for a minute. Julian was the first to react. He ran over to Caroline, saw the blood in her blond hair and screamed, "Nooooo, don't die. Please!" He shook her shoulders. "Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP! Please!" The little boy was hysterical. Blaise tried to see how injured Caroline was but had a hard time pulling Julian away from her.
Caroline started to stir. She opened her eyes, looked over at Julian and said, "Okay, I hear you, I'm awake. Now stop screaming." She had a bitch of a headache and Julian's screaming didn't help. Blaise helped her sit up.
"My angel! You're alive!" Julian gave her a huge hug and almost knocked her down again. "You woke up!"
Hermione heard all the commotion and ran into the room. The first thing she saw was Draco lying lifeless on the floor.
"What in Merlin's name is going on in here?" she said as she bent down to see if her husband was still breathing. He was, but just barely. "We need to get him to St. Mungo's. It looks like he's had another heart attack."
Knowing that Caroline was going to be alright, Blaise went over to Draco and checked his pulse. Julian slowly walked over to them. "Did I kill him? I didn't mean to. I swear!"
Caroline crawled over to her father. "Don't worry; you didn't kill him, Julian. This son-of-a-bitch is too mean to die."
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Voices sounded far away. Draco knew he was lying on a hospital bed. But was he dead or alive? That was the question. He was about to find out. A huge bright white light flashed, almost blinding him.
OOOO
Draco blinked his eyes adjusting them from the light. He realized he was not in his hospital room, but in the main ballroom in Malfoy Manor. The room was decorated in all white – white organza bows, white candles, white chairs - the works. The only color came from bouquets of flowers around the room.
There were two sections of rows of chairs with an aisle going down the middle. Draco sat there taking in the scenery. People milled about before taking their seats. He looked toward the front and noticed Blaise standing there nervously waiting. Julian stood beside him in his little dress robes like his papa. Draco put all the clues together and decided that this must be Blaise and Isabella's wedding.
Everyone took their seats as the music started. After the two bridesmaids walked down the aisle, everyone stood, waiting for the bride to make her appearance.
As the bride slowly walked down the aisle, the guests stood. There were too many people in Draco's way and he couldn't see her clearly. As she passed his row, he finally got a good look at her. It wasn't Isabella walking down the aisle, it was Caroline!
Caroline looked stunningly beautiful and amazingly happy. He looked over at Blaise and the worry he saw earlier was gone. His face was lit up like a child's at Christmas.
No, this couldn't be happening. Draco made his way to the aisle and stood in front of Caroline trying to stop her. But she couldn't see her father and walked right through him as he tried to block her way.
"What the fuck?" He looked down at his body in disbelief. No one could see or hear him. "I'm a fucking ghost." He ran up toward the alter and tried to stop her again with no success.
As the two were saying their vows, Draco screamed. "Nooooo! Caroline, please listen to me. Don't do this. He's going to leave you and break your heart. Please, I beg you, don't marry him. You need to find someone your own age."
"I now pronounce you husband and wife," said the official after the vows were made. Blaise scooped Caroline up in his arms and kissed her like there was no tomorrow and a little bit too long to be appropriate.
"Get a room," Draco could hear Robbie say. Everyone around him chuckled.
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Everyone around him chuckled. Blaise told everyone about Julian kicking Draco in the balls.
"You know, it's funny, but it's not funny when here he is lying so still like this," said Hermione. "I wish the healer would come back with some news."
"It's all my fault," said Caroline. She was filled with guilt because she was the reason for his heart attack. She sat beside him and held his hand.
"I wouldn't say it's all your fault. Your dad is pretty willful from time to time. And you can be so stubborn sometimes, Caroline."
OOOO
"You can be so stubborn sometimes, Caroline," said Hermione.
Draco looked around him to see that he was in a bright, white hospital room - but not his hospital room. Lying in bed was Caroline with everyone she loved around her – Hermione, Narcissa, Carol, Rosie and Robbie. For a moment, he panicked thinking she was really ill. But then he realized that this was a happy occasion with all the flowers and balloons around the room.
"But Mum, I'm fine, the baby's fine. I just want to go home."
"You'll go home when the mediwitch says you can go home."
Draco walked closer to the bed and peered down. Caroline was holding a little baby girl in her arms. He realized that this squirming little person was his granddaughter, and she was beautiful.
Her hair was very dark, almost black and had just a little curl to it. A tiny bow was tied at the top of her small head. She was very alert for a newborn with her blue-gray eyes looking around.
Draco noticed that Blaise wasn't in the room. He knew that son-of-a-bitch would pull a disappearing act and leave his daughter. He just knew it. That bastard.
Just as soon as that thought left his mind, Blaise walked into the room holding Julian's hand.
"Someone wants to see his little sister." He hoisted the little boy up on the side of the bed. Julian looked at the baby and softly touched her cheek.
"She's so soft," he said. "I'll help feed her, give her a bath, change her clothes and play with her. But I draw the line at wiping poop off her bum. Just so you know."
Caroline laughed. "Duly noted, sir. No poop wiping for you."
Blaise bent down and kissed Caroline softly on the top of her head. "I must be the luckiest bastard in the world being surrounded by all these beautiful women."
"Hey, what about me?" asked Robbie. "What am I, chopped liver?"
"No, you're a dude. I didn't think you would want to be lumped in with beautiful women. Same goes for Julian."
"Yeah, I'm a dude," said Julian proudly.
"That you are, my friend." Everyone turned to see Stefan in the doorway. Blaise's cousin walked in and gave Julian's head a little rub.
"Uncle Stefan! You came."
"Now how could I miss seeing my new little niece, cousin, whatever?" He looked down at the tiny infant. "Okay, let's take a look at this little munchkin. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say she's a 12."
"What do you mean she's a 12? She's definitely a 15," said the proud papa.
Narcissa started to leave the room. "It's getting a little crowded in here. I'll be outside." Carol nodded in agreement and followed Narcissa. Robbie and Rosie left as well.
Blaise carefully put the baby in Stefan's arms. Caroline giggled. "Now that's a sight to see…two big, tall, imposing wizards going all mushy around a little baby. I wish I had a picture of this."
"Actually I have a camera," said Hermione. "Now as an official grandmother, it is my duty to take millions of pictures and brag about my granddaughter."
"Grandmother? You're too young to be a grandmother - are you sure you aren't Caroline's sister?" asked Stefan.
Hermione blushed.
Wait a minute, thought Draco. He's flirting with my wife! That SOB is flirting with my wife. I'll kill him! Where's my wand? Shit, I don't have a wand. This really sucks.
"I wish her grandfather could see her." Caroline frowned." I know he would fall in love with her and probably spoil her to death." She took the baby back in her arms.
"Well, wherever he is, he knows she's here. He's probably looking down on her right now," said Hermione.
If they only knew, thought Draco. Instead of Stefan cooing over the baby, he should have been the one holding his granddaughter. He reached down to see if he could touch her. He would give anything to be able to hold her. Just when his fingers reached her arm, she looked straight at him. That made him a little unnerved so he quickly retracted his hand.
"I wonder what's she's looking at? There's nothing on the wall."
"Probably just a bug or something." Blaise picked up the pink bundle from Caroline. "We all need to get out of here and let you rest."
"No, please leave Sophia here," begged Caroline.
Sophia – that name sounded so familiar to Draco. He knew he had heard it before. But where – or more likely – when?
"Don't worry, she won't leave my sight. I'll bring her back after you've taken a nap." Blaise lowered his head and kissed his wife lightly on the lips. "I love you so much."
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"I love you so much," said Caroline to Draco. He was still unconscious. She was the only one sitting in the room at the moment. Everyone had temporarily left for one reason or another.
"I hope you can hear me." She grabbed his hand once again and squeezed lightly. "I've said some really horrible things to you. I didn't mean them. I wish I could take it all back. Please forgive me." Tears spilled down her cheeks.
Blaise walked up silently behind her and squeezed her shoulder. "Keep talking to him. He needs you to keep talking. He's more likely to wake up."
Caroline nodded. "Do you remember the first day we met? We were in the bookstore, but then moved out to the park because you and mum were arguing. I went over to swing on the swings, but I could still hear your voices.
"Do you know that I still go to that park sometimes? I swing on the swings, and sometimes have a little picnic. I love that park."
Draco loved that park too. He would visit it himself whenever he got a few spare minutes.
OOOO
He sat on the bench under his favorite tree. He turned his face up to the sky, feeling the sunshine. As usual, he heard children playing and laughing.
He saw a little girl and older boy kicking a ball to each other. They were doing this for quite some time when the boy kicked the ball harder than necessary making it pass by the little girl. It rolled over to the bench where Draco was sitting.
The girl chased the ball to get it back, when she stopped suddenly in front of Draco. She looked at him carefully. She noticed the man had the same eyes as she and the same hair color as her mum and baby sister.
"You can see me?" asked Draco. The girl nodded but remained silent.
The girl felt familiar to Draco, but he couldn't quite place her. She had really dark curly hair and light eyes. Kind of strange, but striking. The two stared at each other.
"Kids, time to eat," shouted a woman nearby. Draco turned around and was surprised to see Caroline. She was putting out the food and drinks on a blanket. She and her family were having a picnic. There was a baby crawling around on the blanket, trying to get into the basket of food.
"Now, Chloe, stay out of there." The baby picked up two spoons out of the basket and started hitting them together. That's what Draco pictured Caroline would have looked like at that age.
Blaise picked the baby up and started to tickle her. She screamed in delight. He started to give her little kisses all over. He looked liked the happiest man on earth. Draco was envious.
"Sophia, Julian, I'm not going to tell you again," yelled Caroline.
"So your name is Sophia," said Draco to his granddaughter. "That's a pretty name. And your sister's name is Chloe? That's a pretty name too." The girl nodded but didn't say anything.
"How old are you?" She held up five fingers.
"You don't talk much do you?"
She bent down, picked up the ball and said, "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." She turned and ran off toward her family.
There is was. Reality. He was a stranger to his own family. Because of his stubbornness he was missing out on what could have been the best times of his life.
He could have walked his daughter down the aisle at her wedding. He could have been there when his grandchildren were born. All these milestones were missed because he was too hardheaded to admit that his way wasn't always the best way.
He should have treated Blaise better and trusted him more. After all, he was his best friend and confidant. He should know that Blaise wouldn't hurt Caroline.
Draco Malfoy never cried, but he was about to now.
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"He's crying. I see a tear," said Caroline. "He never cries." Her hand still held his.
The healer was checking all Draco's vital signs and said, "I wouldn't worry about it. We gave him a really strong sedative potion. He's probably having some pretty wild dreams."
Draco lay there motionless and squeezed Caroline's hand.