Estranged

Chapter 9

"Father! I'm so excited to see Dad's mom and dad again! They were nice, and she was really pretty. She has the same eyes as Dad, did you notice?"

"I did, Scorpius."

"And Dad's dad looks just like Dad!"

"He does."

"And he's even taller than you and Dad! I didn't think that was possible! Even Grandpa isn't that tall. How tall do you think he is?"

"Maybe that's something you will have to ask him. Want to ring the bell?"

"Can I knock, instead?"

Draco sighed, "I suppose." Scorpius rapped on the door far too many times but he was happy to help so Draco didn't say anything. Usually he would have, but that is when Harry is there to allow it. He can't be the "mean" dad when the "nice" dad isn't here.

"Hello!" Remus said, greeting the two at the door. "So glad to see you again!"

"Pleasure." Draco replied, nodding his head.

"Hi! My name is Scorpius! How tall are you? How do you know my dad?"

Remus laughed merrily, leading the boy to his own son. "I'm your dad's other Godfather, and I'm-," his voice trailed off as they got farther away.

"Draco, how was your night?" James greeted.

"It was fine, thank you. How was yours?"

"Nothing too unusual. We received a letter from Maria. She's demanding time off of school to come see Harry, but we can't really arrange that."

"That's a shame." Draco said, "Harry talks my ear off about her. I'd love to meet her."

"She would like to meet her new brother as well." James winked. "Dinner is almost ready. Hermione and Ron are late, but that's about how it goes when they're lugging those bastards around."

"Harry always seems to run late whenever he is in charge of taking Scorpius anywhere. I don't know why, I'm always on time."

"Harry was always very disorganized. Would you like a cigar?"

"No, thank you. I don't smoke."

"Does Harry?"

"Unfortunately. I've tried everything to get him to stop, but I'd much rather him have the occasional cigarette than drinking or participating in illicit activities."

"How long has he been clean?"

"Nearly six years now."

"That pleases me more than you can ever understand, son. Does he ever drink?"

"Sometimes he'll have a glass of wine if we're out to eat or at my parents' house. He'll sometimes have scotch with me or his bosses, but for the most part no."

"Aren't you afraid he'll relapse if he drinks?"

"Sometimes, but we've talked about it a lot. When he was younger he drank to get drunk, and now it's a society thing. 'Pish posh and hoity toity shit', as he calls it. He's told me that he isn't tempted to drink to get drunk off of the fancy drinks because when he was drinking, he was drinking mainly tequila and vodka. One time he drank absinthe at a party. He swore to never do that again. He had quite the night that night."

"Thank you, Draco."

"I've already said you're welcome."

"No, not for the memories, but for saving him. Harry, he- he was in a terrible spot, and you saw the worst of it. We tried everything to get him to stop, short from kicking him out. Maybe that's what he needed, but you saved him, and for that we will be forever grateful."

Draco laughed lightly. "I might have helped him get and stay clean but do you want to know what ultimately did it?" James waved his hand to indicate he wanted to hear. "He had to take a drug test for a job. So he got clean, with my help, and he just never went back, other than his two relapses."

"What job? And when was his second relapse?"

"You'll see tonight when he relapsed, but I left the job out. He applied to work in the hospital with me, at the front desk. He worked there until he graduated."

"What does he do now?"

"He works as a professor at Oxford. He's on the Board of Education and in ten years he could be in charge of the English department."

"That's amazing." James smiled, pride showing in his eyes.

"Dinner!" Lily called.