A/N: Hi everyone, thanks for correcting me – this father/mother mistake is fixed. You guys really read carefully, don't you? :-) Even more carefully than me! LOL...

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Against All Odds

Chapter Fifteen

"Draco, I can't," he heard her whisper, and his heart sank.

"Are you that angry with me for telling Daniel?" he asked.

"No, I understand you didn't intend him to make that wish. It's okay... I just wish we hadn't kissed in front of everyone. I wanted it to be private."

It's my chance now, Draco thought. I have promised myself to keep trying until she takes me back. I'm going to do it now.

He leaned in closer, until his lips were mere inches from hers, and whispered: "Now is a good time... we're totally alone..." and pressed his lips against hers.

She didn't have time to object – before she could even start to think why it was wrong, his hands had already cupped her face, keeping her close. He knew she might pull away at any second, so he kissed her deeper. He had always been good at kissing – now he did his best to use that skill and make the kiss good for her.

And he did it. He felt her giving in – she started to respond, tilting her head and kissing him back. He pulled away for a brief second and they quickly closed the space between them and kissed again; Draco was in heaven, and he felt she was, too.

He let one hand play with her hair before trailing down her back and putting it on her waist. She moaned into the kiss and clung onto him.

----

Daniel sighed and glanced in the direction of the balcony. The door was closed and he could not see what was happening behind it, but he hoped they weren't fighting.

He had hoped this kiss would bring the two of them back together, but his didn't seem to work. His mom had kissed his dad, yes; but her eyes had been flaming with anger and she hadn't done it as happily as Daniel had hoped.

It was already late in the evening; most of the guests had already left. Ryan was the only one who was still there, eating the last piece of the cake. "Well, I think I'm going to take off," he finally said and got up. "Happy Birthday, Dan. I'll send you an owl soon," he said, hugged him and Disapparated.

Daniel gave the balcony door one last, desperate glance and went to his room. He was tired, and although he thought it would take him hours to sleep, he fell asleep in less than ten minutes.

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The next morning, Draco woke up early. He looked to his side to see the most beautiful woman in the world sleeping peacefully next to him. Remembering last night, he smiled. It had been one of the greatest nights of his life. So many long years had passed since he had made love to her. God, he had missed her so much.

He moved one finger on her cheek, wishing she were awake. To his surprise, she smiled and opened her eyes. "You're awake?" he asked.

"Now I am," she replied.

"Last night was great," he whispered in her ear.

"It was indeed," she smiled back.

"Let's go see Daniel. I've never seen him so early in the morning," Draco suggested.

"All right," Hermione grinned and got up. He took her hand and she followed him to Daniel's bedroom. Daniel was sleeping on his bed, looking like an angel.

"He's so much like you," Draco whispered.

"What? What are you talking about? He got it all from you," Hermione said. "The hair, the eyes... I could never forget you even if I wanted to, because Daniel kept reminding me of you over and over again."

"But look how he's sleeping," Draco insisted. "He looks just like you when he's asleep. And his nose, he definitely got his nose from you."

"Don't do that," Hermione scolded. "You know he's got it all from you, he looks just like you looked the first time I saw you. Maybe just something about his hair is different than yours."

"You're right. It's a little darker shade of blond."

"Yeah, not platinum, more like golden. But his hair is still blond and soft and straight, not brown and curly and bushy like mine."

"Your hair is lovely," Draco whispered as he stroked her hair. "It stopped being bushy when we were in 6th year or so. And it has the most beautiful color."

"Shh... we might wake him up with all this talking," Hermione whispered. Draco followed her outside to the living room.

"What time is it?"

"Eight A.M. Daniel will probably be up in about an hour. It's Saturday, so it's okay."

Hermione sat on the couch, and Draco sat close to her.

"We haven't discussed it yet," Draco reminded her.

"Discussed what?"

"Last night. What it means, you know," Draco said. "Did it mean anything to you? Because it meant a lot to me, and I just thought..."

"I think it was a perfect ending," Hermione replied quietly.

"What?" Draco's jaw dropped.

"Draco," Hermione said softly, "this is not going to work between us... you know it's not. I think last night was the best way to end this well. We have the most charming son, let's just focus on bringing him up together and raising him to be a good man."

Draco didn't answer. He wasn't sure he was able to speak. Tears choked his throat, and he quickly looked away. This is not what I had in mind...

----

Later that day, Daniel asked Draco to go ice-skating with him, and Draco agreed. They offered Hermione to join them, but Hermione said she had a lot of paper work to do, and preferred to stay at home.

This must be because of me, Draco thought. She knows how I feel about what she said, and she's uncomfortable.

Draco wasn't used to the feeling of a broken heart. Never before had he had troubles with women – not in Hogwarts and not after Hogwarts. There had never been a girl who turned him down before, ever. This time it was not only the hurt of being rejected; it was something more. He loved Hermione with all his heart and couldn't stand the thought of not being able to touch her anymore, not to be able to kiss her and tell her how much he cared for her. Had Hermione felt this way when he had gone to America? But he hadn't turned her down – he had offered her to come with him...

Daniel was good at ice-skating; not the artistic dancing, but he was able to skate well. Hermione and Ryan had taken him ice-skating many times before. Draco liked ice-skating, but today he just was not in the mood, and who could blame him?... He skated along the wall, not thinking, until he bumped into Daniel, who came almost flying towards him.

"OUCH!" The two of them fell to the ice and rolled over each other. Daniel got up first; he offered his hand to Draco to help him up.

"Thanks," Draco panted as he got to his feet. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you."

"I was right in front of you! How is it possible that you didn't see me?"

"I was thinking," Draco said in an apologetic smile, "I wasn't looking. Sorry."

Daniel gazed at him for a moment. "You were thinking of Mom, weren't you?" he asked quietly.

"How do you always know everything?" Draco said and smiled sadly at him.

"I know she turned you down. I'm sorry, Dad," Daniel said, suddenly moving forward and hugging Draco around the waist so hard, Draco almost fell down again. "I wanted you two to be together so much," Daniel said with tears in his eyes.

"Come on," Draco said firmly and tugged his arm, "let's go have a drink."

They went to the near café and sat down together. Draco felt warmth in his heart; he had never had the chance to spend time with his son in public.

"I know you're not supposed to tell me," Daniel said. "But it's okay, I know anyway. I know you wanted to be with her and she refused."

Draco looked at him. "How do you know?" he asked.

"I'm gifted with these things, I guess," Daniel said, shrugging. "You stayed the night in out house, and today you looked so miserable, what else could it be?"

"You're a clever boy, Daniel," Draco said truthfully; "and I'm afraid you're right."

"Is it impossible to make her want you again?" Daniel asked. "Isn't there anything that you can do?" he looked so desperate, that in that moment Draco swore in his heart to keep trying and do whatever he could to make Hermione take him again.

"I don't know," he said, "but I'll do my best. I'm not going to give up so easily. I don't want you to start hoping too much, Daniel, and please don't say anything to her; but I want you to know that I love your mom with all my heart and there's nothing I want to do more than to be with her, and I'm going to do anything to make her feel the same way."

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A/N: I know it was short – but my cousin is coming today from abroad after I haven't seen her since December, and I really want to see her now. So I promise to update again as soon as I can – I do update often now, don't I? – and please review.

By the way, I'm starting to think of my next story. Does any of you have any suggestions or special requests? All welcome, I'd love to hear.

Roni.

Magical Moonstone: Have I told you already that I love your nickname? Anyway, if you use that idea in one of your stories, I'd love to read it. And don't worry, I have absolutely nothing against Americans – on the contrary, I love America and its people very much. I myself am neither American nor British, but I think you've noticed my English is more American, especially the slang. So my stories are a little Americanized, aren't they? I don't know if Americans and British mix – why not, actually?

Lover-of-Tom, Sara: Well, hello old friend! :-) Haven't seen you around for a while... Not your reviews, anyway. It's okay, I'm not upset or anyting, but it's really great to see you again. Oh, and a special thank-you: I've entered your profile again (done it like a million times before...) and found a great story on your Favorites List – Purely Physical which is now on my favorites as well. Anyway, from time to time I praise my most devoted reviewers personally like I did with Crazy12 – today I think you deserve it, Lover-of-Tom, thank you so much.

Rena: I don't totally agree with you, but I'm not going to argue because the way you talk shows how much you're into the story, and this means it's good. Thanks. :-)