Chapter 10 Surprises
Draco's day was going very smoothly for once. He made it to work early, finished all of his work very quickly. His coffee from his favorite coffee shop turned out just right and they even had his favorite pastries. It was turning out to be a really good day.
"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Radcliffe would like to talk to you in his office," the secretary Jane informed Draco.
"Thank you Jane…and remember you can call me Draco," Draco replied with a smile.
"Oh sorry Mr. Malf—er Draco," Jane stated with an impish grin.
Draco made his way down the hall and towards the office of his boss Mr. Radcliffe. Draco hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door. He hoped sincerely that this wouldn't be bad news. He didn't want anything to ruin his perfect day so far. Gathering the courage, Draco rapped twice on the big oak door.
"Come in," Mr. Radcliffe called out and Draco obliged, "Come on in and sit down Mr. Malfoy."
Draco did as he was asked and sat in the chair on the other side of the man's big maple desk. Draco then looked up at Mr. Radcliffe expectantly.
"I have called you in here to inform you that I am very pleased with your work recently," Mr. Radcliffe began, "I must inform you that several people thought I was off my rocker for hiring you. They all told me that I should never hire an ex-Death Eater."
Draco looked down at the desk in front of him wondering where this man was going with this.
"But that is beside the point. The real reason you are in here is because I am promoting you. I am so thrilled with your work that I am going to give you a raise, and give you some more opportunities here at Gringotts," Mr. Radcliffe explained.
"Wow, thank you sir," Draco replied stunned.
"And since I need to work out a new contract for you and I need to work out the details, why don't you take the rest of the day off?" Mr. Radcliffe suggested.
"I will thank you very much," Draco replied with a smile.
"I will see you tomorrow morning at 8am then," Mr. Radcliffe replied.
Draco stood up and shook the man's hand and then walked out of the office feeling happier then he had in a really long time. It felt like nothing in the world could bring his mood down. Draco grabbed his jacket and got ready to go home. He was planning what he was going to do once he got there. First thing, he was definitely going to take a nap. It was a long work week and early Friday afternoon sounded like a great time for a nap. After that he figured he would try some new recipes out and maybe invite Harry and Ginny over for dinner.
Walking through the door and into the house all of his plans suddenly went out of the window. There sitting on his living room couch was the last person in the world that he expected to see. Astoria Malfoy gave a small smile of greeting as her husband walked into the room.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Draco asked trying to control his temper.
"This is my house just as much as it is yours," Astoria replied.
"No…no it's not. You walked out on this family you don't get to come back," Draco replied vehemently.
"We are still married Draco, I have every right to live in the same house as my husband and son," Astoria replied standing up.
"You lost the right to call Scorpius your son the second you walked out that door. I had to explain to my son what a bitch his mother really is and he has finally accepted that. You are not coming back and messing things up for Scorpius, who I love more than life itself," Draco spat out, "Now tell me why are you really here?"
"I wanted to give this a second try," Astoria responded.
"That's a lie," Draco replied.
"Excuse me?" Astoria asked acting insulted.
"You never even gave it a try the first time. You never tried to love Scorpius. He was just a burden to you. You only got with me for my money and my family name. There was nothing ever there on your part," Draco replied, "I'm ashamed to say it, but I at least did love you. I was crazy in love with you…or at least the girl I thought you were."
"I did too love you," Astoria retorted.
"Yeah you loved my family name and my bank account," Draco replied, "Now are you going to tell you why you are here? I thought you got a one way ticket to Australia."
"I did…" Astoria replied, "And trust me I wouldn't be here if I had any other choice."
"Let me guess…you went back home to your dad. He found out that you left me and Scorpius. He got pissed because you don't leave a Malfoy and kicked you out of the house?" Draco asked.
"How do you know that?" Astoria asked in shock.
"I'm a Malfoy. I come from a long line of people just like you and your father. I know how things work even if I don't buy into it anymore," Draco explained rolling his eyes, "Now the answer is no. Get out of my house."
"But I don't have anywhere to go," Astoria replied.
"Stay at the Leaky Cauldron," Draco suggested.
"I don't have any money," Astoria replied.
"Here is an idea…get a job!" Draco replied.
"But how am I going to survive until I get paid huh?" Astoria asked.
"I will give you enough money for a couple nights at the Leaky Cauldron," Draco replied, "That is the last thing that you are getting from me ever though….well other than divorce papers."
"Jerk," Astoria mumbled but unfortunately Draco heard it.
"Yeah…well at least I am happy," Draco replied, "And I have Scorpius."
"Not for long," Astoria replied with an evil grin, "When we go for the divorce I'm going to fight for sole custody for Scorpius."
"Now why would you do that?" Draco asked.
"Because I have to make you pay somehow, you ruined everything I ever wanted. I wanted to marry a wealthy husband with a great pureblooded family name. I wanted to have power and success. But you, the ungrateful jerk you are, denounced your family name. You gave up the fortune that runs in your family. You settled for a job working at Gringotts Bank," Astoria explained, "I have to make you hurt somehow and this seems like the best way."
"Yeah well I am going to fight back so hard that you won't know what hit you," Draco replied feeling anger course through his veins.
"You can try…but do you really think that they are going to give custody to you the ex-Death Eater?" Astoria asked with a smirk.
"Get the hell out of my house," Draco demanded.
"I want my money for my hotel room," Astoria replied holding out here hand expectantly.
"Get out of my house this instant or I swear I will literally kick you out of it," Draco replied clenching his fists.
Astoria sighed and walked over to the front door and out of the house. Draco walked over the liquor cabinet and grabbed his new best friend, a bottle of firewhiskey. Draco sat in a chair near his fireplace and began to drown his sorrows. The day had somehow turned completely upside down.
Somewhere in the middle of his drunken haze Draco heard knocking on his front door. Stumbling over to the door, Draco finally was able to open it to reveal a concerned Harry.
"Whoa, someone has been drinking just a little too much," Harry said taking in Draco's disheveled appearance.
"Potter…yous wantsss some firewhiskey. It good, real good," Draco slurred out brandishing the nearly empty bottle.
"I think I shall be taking this," Harry replied rolling his eyes and taking the bottle out of Draco's hand, "Come on let's get you settled down."
"Harry, you knows I used to really hates you, I wanted nah-nothing more than tah punch ya face in!" Draco began rambling stumbling on several of his words, "Nowsss you are really cool."
"That's great thanks," Harry said rolling his eyes once more, "Come on let's get you comfortable on the couch."
Harry struggled to get the stumbling Draco over to the couch. Once there he plopped down and began rolling around a lot.
"Stop that, you are going to fall off of the couch," Harry reprimanded.
Draco continued to roll back and forth so Harry sighed and placed a stunning charm on Draco so he would stop moving. Harry then made his way to the kitchen and got a glass of water. He brought it back into the living room and sat Draco up. Draco may not be able to move any of his body but his eyes, but his natural reflexes such as swallowing were still in tact.
Harry got Draco to finish the whole glass of water and then removed the charm. Draco laid back down on the couch and fell quickly asleep. Harry sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He then sent a patronus to Ginny informing her that he wouldn't be home that night.
The next morning came far too quickly for Draco. All of a sudden it was like he was in a world of pain. His head felt like someone was using his brain as a bongo and wouldn't quit. Draco groaned as he opened his eyes and sunlight hit him making him feel a whole new world of pain.
"Good morning Draco," Harry said from a chair across from Draco where he was reading a newspaper.
"Ugh…too loud," Draco replied and Harry had to stifle his laughter.
"Hmm do we have a bit of a headache?" Harry asked with a smile.
"Yes…now stop rubbing it in," Draco replied slowly trying to sit up.
"Hey, play nicely and I might just use a spell to reduce your headache," Harry replied.
"You can do that?" Draco asked and winced when it came out a little louder then expected causing his head to pound even more.
"As entertaining as this is, I shall give you some relief," Harry replied standing up and pulling out his wand.
Harry did a complicated spell and Draco felt the pain in his head lessen dramatically. Draco sighed in relief.
"Thank you," Draco said sincerely.
"Not a problem…now tell me why you drank so much," Harry said sitting down once more and folded his hands looking very much like a stern parent ready to reprimand a child.
"Well I came home yesterday and Astoria was waiting for me on the couch. Her dad kicked her out because she left me. In pureblood crazy families it is a rule that you never abandon your family even if it's to the point of them abusing you. Well Astoria had no where to live so she came back and I told her I would give her money for a couple nights at a hotel, but after that she was on her own. Then I proceeded to tell her that I was going to get divorce papers and end this. She got mad and told me that she was going to fight for custody of Scorpius," Draco recapped with a sigh, "I'll never get custody of him being an ex-Death Eater and she damn well knows it!"
"Hey, that is not true. Scorpius' opinion does matter in all of this," Harry reasoned, "They are going to ask him who he would prefer to stay with and I don't think Scorpius is gonna tell them he wants to live with Astoria. You and Scorpius sound like you are very close."
"We are, he is my whole world," Draco replied with a sigh.
"You know drinking most of a bottle of firewhiskey isn't going to take your troubles away. You could have done something really stupid last night and you are lucky I showed up. You could have really hurt yourself," Harry lectured as if Draco were a teenager again.
"Hey you don't need to read me the riot act," Draco replied, "I had the weirdest dream ever with Snape in it and he already beat you to it! He lectured me forever in the dream…part of me wonders if it really was a dream."
"That's a little creepy…but hey if he beat me to the punch then that's that," Harry replied with a shrug, "Now I suggest you go get a cup of coffee or treat yourself to a nap."
"Yeah sure..." Draco replied thinking that sounded like a great idea until he had a random realization, "Shit! What time is it?"
"A little past 7, why?" Harry asked confused.
"I have a meeting with my boss at 8 about a promotion," Draco replied, "I have to rush and get there. Thank you so much for everything Harry! Why don't you, Ginny and Lily come over for dinner tonight? That way I can repay you for your kindness."
"Sounds great," Harry replied with a nod, "I will see you later tonight then. Good luck with your promotion!"
"Thanks!" Draco yelled back rushing up the stairs.