A/N: I'm really enjoying reading whether you are for Blaise and Caroline or against them. Don't worry, Blaise isn't going to be a pedophile. :D Have a great week everyone!

Disclaimer: All characters (except Caroline/Sophia) belong to JKR. Parts of the song Sweet Sophia - by Stephen Kellogg & The Sixers.

*****

Chapter 36

Malfoy Manor's ballroom was filled with guests. The room was truly magnificent, decorated with scarlet and emerald for Christmas. White lights adorned the massive Christmas tree in the corner of the room.

Hermione entered the ballroom with a nervous looking young woman beside her. Many of the guests turned to look at the two beauties that just entered. Draco and Narcissa were speaking with her friends Eric, Celine, and Celeste when his attention was drawn to his fiancée and his daughter. He slowly walked toward the two of them, both visions of perfection. Damn, he was the luckiest bastard on earth.

"You two look stunning tonight. Mind if I ask your mum for a dance?" Draco asked Caroline. She nodded her approval. "Go over there with your grandmother then, would you?" She again nodded and walked over to Narcissa and her friends.

Stefan and Blaise were talking out on the terrace drinks in hand. "Do you believe in love at first sight?" asked Blaise.

"Absolutely not. Zabinis are not wired for that type of thing. Why?"

"Well, I just met this angel upstairs and she took my breath away." He looked back into the ballroom and saw her.

When you showed up, you showed up right on time.
An elegant sweetheart that just blew my mind.
I guess the keys to my castle had always been there.
There for taking, but nothing could prepare me...

Stefan turned to look at who Blaise was staring at. Standing at the other end of the room was a young lady dressed in blue. She was very pretty with a nice figure, and he could see why Blaise was attracted to her. He looked back and forth between Blaise and 'Sophia.'

"Breathe, Blaise," said Stefan to his younger cousin.

Sweet Sophia
Girl one look at you and I was hooked
and then
Sweet Sophia
Thundering beds and the earthquakes shook.
With your heart shaped lips and my breath that you took.

"Oh no," said Stefan. "You've got it bad. He looked around the room. "She sure draws attention from the other men."

Blaise scowled at him. "Maybe so, but they just want to get into her knickers."

"And you don't?"

"No. I have a different feeling about this one."

Stefan rolled his eyes. "You're hopeless."

*****

Draco took Hermione's arm and led her to the dance floor. He held her close enough that he could feel her heart beat.

"You look beautiful in emerald," he said.

"I thought you might like it."

"I'll like it even better when I can take it off you later." He spun her around and dipped her backwards. She laughed and reached up for a quick kiss.

"Have I told you I love you today?" Draco asked.

"A few times, but I'll never get tired of hearing it." He felt warm and happy as she smiled up at him. They danced in silence for a few minutes just taking in the moment.

"Happy?" she asked.

"Very." He pressed his forehead against hers.

"I've got a present for you. Do you want me to give it to you now or later?"

He looked around the room at the other guests and got a wicked grin on his face. "Can you give it to me in public?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter." She playfully swatted his arm.

"I actually have to look up to see the gutter, love," he purred in her ear. A shiver went through her body.

"Follow me," she said as she grabbed his hand.

*****

Caroline, or rather Sophia, was getting bored with the adult conversation so she wandered over to one of the refreshment tables. She was disappointed that there was no punch or cookies. And where were the balloons? And games? Some party this was.

Eric walked over to Stefan and Blaise as they watched Sophia from the doorway between the terrace and the ballroom.

"Quite a little honey, isn't she?" asked Eric. "With all that blond hair I wonder if the carpet matches the drapes." The two cousins looked at Eric with disgust. "I'll let you two blokes know later on tonight." He gave Blaise and Stefan a wink.

Blaise saw red as Eric quickly walked over to Sophia and asked her to dance. She shook her head no, but he grabbed her arm and led her to the dance floor. She was angry and tried to twist out of his grasp with no success.

Blaise noticed the dread in her face and looked over to Stefan. Both men quickly went up to Eric. Stefan pushed him away from Sophia. "I don't think the lady wants to dance with you, Eric."

Eric spouted off some obscenities and stormed away. Sophia stuck her tongue at him behind his back.

With a fierce disposition like the beat of a drum,
You get hurt more than others, but you have more fun.
I can't make it stop so the love keeps on growing.
If it killed me today I'd be better off for knowing...

Blaise took Sophia aside. For some reason he felt it was his job to protect her.

"Are you okay?"

She quietly nodded and rubbed her arm where Eric had grabbed it. Blaise took a glass of champagne from a nearby table and handed it to her.

"Here, it looks like you could use something to drink." She took the glass and brought it up to her lips. She giggled.

"This tickles my nose." She took a sip and licked her lips. Blaise really wished she hadn't done that.

"Mmm, this is really good," she said. With one big gulp she drank the rest of the champagne and smacked her lips.

Blaise looked at her in surprise and refilled the glass. "Take this one a little slower, okay?"

"Okay," she said as she still licked her lips.

"You look very beautiful tonight. I like your dress."

"It's blue, you know. I'm wearing blue because I know you can't see reds or greens too good."

"How do you know that?"

She noticed her blunder and tried to change the subject. "You like my barrette? It's made of sapphires."

"I like it very much. It matches your eyes." He tilted her chin up so he could look deep into her eyes. "Do you want to dance?"

"I don't know how."

He took her glass from her, set it down and led her on to the terrace. It was balmy on the terrace because a warming charm had been cast over the area. It was starlit and very romantic.

"Here, it's easy. Let me show you." Blaise put her arms around his neck as he put his hands on her waist. "Just sway back and forth to the music."

They stayed there for a bit just feeling the music. Sophia closed her eyes and rested her head on Blaise's shoulder. Blaise was softly singing in her ear. He decided it was time to actually move around the floor, so he took her hand and led her around the terrace.

Sweet Sophia
Girl one look at you and I was hooked
and then
Sweet Sophia
You stole my soul with a laugh and a look.
With your heart shaped lips and my breath that you took.

She felt like she was melting in his arms. He smelled so good too. Her eyes were still closed as he leaned his head down a little and gently kissed her neck. She squeaked in surprise.

"Quit, that tickles," she giggled and scrunched her neck.

"Oh, so little Miss Sophia is ticklish is she? That's a good tidbit to know," Blaise laughed.

"I didn't say you could kiss me," said Sophia playfully. "If you want a kiss, you'll have to win it."

"Win. A kiss. You're kidding, right?" he asked skeptically. Unbelievable. He never had to work so hard to get laid, much less get a kiss. But he was amused by her and decided to go along with it.

"And what do you get if you win?" he asked.

She thought for a moment and tapped her chin. "I know. A kitten… a white one…with blue eyes."

"A kitten? You want a kitten." Was this girl as innocent as she seemed or was she playing with him ? He couldn't decide.

"Yep." She grabbed the bottle of champagne and said, "Bring those glasses and follow me."

*****

Hermione led Draco down a hall and positioned him right where she wanted him…under the mistletoe. He looked up and smirked.

"If you wanted a kiss, all you had to do was ask. This isn't much of a present, Granger."

She reached up and planted a soft and lingering kiss on his lips. He wanted to take it to the next level, but she stopped him. Out of her pocket she pulled out a small box with a ribbon attached.

"The mistletoe is not the present…this is," she said as she shoved the box into his hand.

"What is it? Let's see…it's too small for a new broom. Or maybe it's a packet of sea monkeys. I've always wanted some sea monkeys."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a moron. Open it already."

"I know… it's a watch to replace the one Caroline dropped into the toilet," he said smugly. He carefully opened the box. When he saw what was in it, his jaw dropped.

Laying on a piece of black velvet was a silver rattle with a light blue ribbon tied around it.

He was flabbergasted. And one of the many rare times, speechless.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" A wide grin spread over his face.

She nodded her head with tears in her eyes. "Yes, we're going to have a baby. I'm about a month or so along."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier up in the bedroom when I was going on about having another baby?"

"The surprise wouldn't have been near as fun. You should see the expression on your face. It's priceless."

"No, you're priceless. Oh, Merlin, we're going to have a baby!" he yelled. He picked her up by the waist and started to swing her around in a circle. All of a sudden, he realized that he might hurt the baby doing that and let her down gently. He pressed his lips to hers and kissed her like there was no tomorrow. After a few moments they had to let go of each other in order to breathe.

"Oh my gods…all the sex we had last night. What if I killed it?" he said in a panic.

Hermione laughed at him with tears rolling down her cheeks. "Relax; one can still make love when pregnant. What…are you going to abstain for the next eight months?"

Draco grimaced. "Eight months? I hope you're right, because there is no way I could stay away from you for eight months."

"And another thing, it's not an 'it,' it's a 'he.' Did you not notice the blue ribbon?"

"A boy? We're going to have a boy? Are you sure?"

"Well, the healer said she was 98% sure when she examined me."

He ran his fingers through his hair. "We have so much to do. We've got to set up the nursery, I've got to get him a broom, oh, and he needs…"

"Don't worry, Malfoy. We've got time."

He smiled and planted little kisses along her jaw line, down her neck, and over her breasts. Kneeling down on one knee, he put his hands on her hips and gently kissed her belly. He looked up at her with warmth in his eyes. "Have I told you I love you today?"

*****

"That party was boring," said Sophia. "There were no cookies or games or anything good." She led him down yet another hall to a set of double doors. "Here we are."

She brought him to the mansion's billiard room. There were all sorts of (mostly Muggle) games one could play: billiards, darts, poker, blackjack. She pulled him over to a large screen television where there were several video game consoles.

"Video games? You want to play video games. Are you for real?" asked Blaise in disbelief.

"Yep, you win, you get a kiss. I win, I get a kitten." She had the upper hand, because each time she and Blaise played video games in the past, she usually won.

What she didn't know was that Blaise let her win on those occasions.

She threw a remote to him. "I'm gonna kick your heinie."

"Bring it," said Blaise. He took off his outer robes and waistcoat so he was just left wearing his shirt and trousers. He took off his tie, opened a couple of buttons and rolled up his sleeves. They both kicked off their shoes, and Sophia threw her shawl on the floor.

They each had a wireless controller that would make the character on the screen move as they did. She put a tennis game into the console. They played for a few minutes volleying the ball back and forth, their arms swinging wildly. Much to Sophia's dismay, Blaise was winning.

She had to do something, so she swung her hips to the side and bumped into him making him temporarily loose his balance, thus missing the shot.

"You cheat!" he exclaimed laughing. He righted himself and did the same to her. Only when he bumped her, she lost her balance fell to the floor. She burst out laughing.

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry," he said as he offered her his hand to help her up. She grabbed his proffered hand and pulled herself up and into his arms. She was laughing hard and breathing heavily.

"I guess you won anyway," said Sophia. "You've earned your kiss." Although she wasn't crazy about kissing in general, something stirred in her and she longed to kiss him.

She reached up and put her hands around his neck and pulled him toward her. One of his arms was around her waist. The other hand was tenderly pushing the hair from her face. The barrette had fallen out when she fell.

Their eyes lingered on each other as he lowered his head and lightly brushed his lips against hers.

With your heart shaped lips and my breath that you took.
And my breath, little girl that you took.
Sweet Sophia

*****

Draco and Hermione were walking back to the party and passed the billiard room. They stopped when they heard familiar voices inside. Draco threw the double doors wide open. He stood in the doorway with a murderous look on his face.