Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. No money is made from this.

Chapter 17 – Officially Ungrounded part 2

By the next morning no news of Alex had arrived at the Potter household and so at lunch time Harry made his way down to the department of magical transportation to find Mr. Clearwater. Although Teddy had happily left this morning for Shell Cottage, Harry knew his godson well enough to expect investigative questions the minute he would step through the door that night. His offer to talk to the other boy's father may have come as a bit of a surprise even to himself, yet he couldn't help but feel sorry for Teddy. Six weeks of his holiday had passed and he had spent most of it within the boundaries of their own home. Even now he wouldn't be able to offer the teenager an exciting holiday. He had merely been able to take a week's leave from work, which they would spend at the English Riviera.
A prospect, that while maybe exciting for a 4, 7 and 8-year old who would happily built sand castles, it did not have the highest attraction for a 15-year old teenager. Therefore Harry hoped some time with his best friend would make it up to him.

As he arrived at the open plan office several eyes were immediately on him, yet while some still lingered longer than necessary for his liking, the room quickly returned to normal as Harry turned to Mr. Clearwater asking for a moment in private. The older man led him into the small office kitchen that despite the hour was deserted. Accepting the offered cup of tea Harry leaned against the counter top, an action soon mimicked by Alex's father and for a moment both men were starring at their cup in silence. Harry was about to say something, however he was beaten to it by the other man.
"Auror Potter I just wanted to say that my wife and I really appreciate what you've done for my son and I want to assure you that he has been dealt with and something like this will not repeat itself."
Harry frowned at the formal address and he didn't miss the man's nervousness either. Only he couldn't think of a reason for it, even as the older man shifted slightly uncomfortable and then continued: "Of course I understand you have to act according to our laws and regulations."

Now understanding dawned on Harry, the man thought he was here to carry out further disciplinary action against his son. Quickly he said:

"Mr. Clearwater I'm not here on Auror business. Alex is not in trouble. This is strictly personal"
"Please call me Gregory then." Alex's father said visibly more relaxed.
Offering his hand Harry replied: "Harry, it's a pleasure. Now what I came for, Teddy informed me that he send Alex a letter three days ago and he anxiously awaits an answer. I promised him I would find out if he received it."

Taking a sip of his tea Mr. Clearwater thought for a moment and then said: "I'm not aware of any mail, but that doesn't mean much. However even if he received it, he would be unable to respond."

At Harry's questioning look he continued: "He's still grounded for another two weeks and therefore has no access to his owl."

Harry sighed.

"I understand of course ... it's just that Teddy will not be happy to spent another two weeks without his best friend. The two are quite a pair." he said running a hand through his hair.

Across from him Harry could hear a chuckle that was quickly covered by a cough, then however the other man also portrayed a sorry expression.

"I'm afraid it will be longer than that. We'll go on our annual fortnight holiday."

Harry sighed again. This meant it would be four weeks for a reunion of the two friends. a piece of news he not only did not want to rely to Teddy, but also really felt bad about. While both of them deserved the repercussions of their Brighton adventure, separating them for most of their summer seemed cruel.

"You don't think it would be possible to let them meet at least once before your trip? Maybe Ted could come over for just an afternoon … Alex wouldn't leave the house ..."

The older man smiled at his tactics and replied kindly:

"I guess that could be arranged. I'll have to talk to my wife though."

As an afterthought he added: "They are good boys. Punishing them too hard will do no good."

Harry nodded. "They are, we all made mistakes at their age, didn't we?"

"Harry Potter, Saviour of the Wizarding World and top Auror, a teenage delinquent?" Mr. Clearwater mocked light-hearted with laugh in his eyes that Harry was happy to join in, but then said pensively:

"Maybe I should just be happy that they have the chance to be normal teenagers and my greatest worry is some underage drinking."

"Yes indeed." Mr. Clearwater said soberly, but then grinned again: "Not that I would dare tell this to my wife."
Harry chuckled, he could understand all too well that a mother on war path had to be handled with caution.
"Well I should be going. I've taken up enough of your time."
Harry placed his cup in the sink and both men exited the kitchen together while Gregory Clearwater spoke:
"I will owl my wife straight away and maybe we can arrange something for this week.
"Thank you. I appreciate it, really." the Auror answered leaving the office.

...

Just as Harry had predicted, he had not even closed the door when he heard someone fly down the stairs and a second later a hyper 15-year-old stood in front of him.
"Did you talk to him? What did he say? Did Alex get my message?" Teddy spoke without taking a breath.
"I'm not yet fully in the house, give me a moment kid." Harry chuckled and turned to close the door. However Teddy's impatience was practically tangible and following his godfather into the kitchen he couldn't hold back any longer.
"So?" he said with an expectant look on his face.
"Patience is a virtue Ted, did you know? How was your day at Shell Cottage?" Harry teased, but Teddy was clearly not in the mood.
"Now you're just mocking me, and the day was fine, but she simply isn't Alex." The teen pouted his arms crossed over his chest.
"Well I'm sure Victoire will appreciate it." Harry made fun of his godson and just received a dirty look in response, however even then his eyes gave away the growing excitement and Harry decided to relieve him.
"I did talk to Mr. Clearwater, and yes Alex did get your message, however he won't be answering."
Teddy looked confused, then his look darkened.
"He blames me for getting him into trouble. Damn..."
Before Teddy could get too worked up, barking up the wrong tree, Harry intervened.
"I don't think he blames you. He is grounded until they go on holiday in two weeks though."
"What? That's bull..." Teddy practically shouted earning him a disapproving stare from his godfather.
"What? It is." The teen huffed. "You didn't ground me that long and I was the one flying to London."
"Good of you to remind me of that." Harry said a smile tucking on his lips.
Shit, wait ... retreat ... retreat. What a stupid move.Teddy mentally cursed himself.

A while ago Harry probably would have let the whole comment slide, now however he acknowledged Teddy's need for guidance and consistency.
"Alex's parents are perfectly within their rights to discipline him like they see fit as I do with you and you should accept that." Harry said sternly, but then he dropped the act and continued kindly.

"However we have decided that we can grant you two a reprieve and you may visit Alex one afternoon before he'll go on his holiday and we on ours."

"Really? When can I go? This week ...oh Harry please." Teddy bursted out over the moon with joy and Harry shook his head at his mood swings. The boy nearly rivalled Ginny during her pregnancies.

"Alex's parents agreed that Thursday should work out fine for everybody." Harry said and thus placing a wide grin on his godson's face so that Harry felt he needed to cool him down at least a little bit.

"But Ted, this is an exemption, because of the circumstances and I expect you to behave when you are at Alex's house."

"Course I do." The teenager waved away the concern and then happily ran back upstairs.

Once in his room he immediately searched for some parchment and started writing a letter to his best friend. After all Harry had only said Alex could not send mail, receiving it should be fine. Moreover he wanted to make sure Alex really wasn't mad with him and the best way to do this was spreading some good news. Slumping down at his desk Teddy started writing.

Hi Alex,

It's me again. I know you are not allowed to owl me back. Harry talked to your dad. Listen, I'm really sorry got us into trouble. I hope you're not mad. I've good news though, your parents let me come over on Thursday. I hope you're as excited as I am. I'll bring you chocolate to make amends.

See you then.

Teddy

The teenager carefully rolled the parchment and then called the barn owl that was resting in her cage. Apparently she didn't care too much for an impatient teen interrupting her daytime napping as she slowly stretched her wings and hooted annoyed. Still after a moment she flew to him obediently. Softly caressing the owl's head Teddy said: "Don't give me that look, it's nearly dark anyway and you can hunt on your way home."

He quickly tied the message to Moony's leg and remembering her loyalty the owl willingly took off.

Teddy's mind however lingered on the upcoming visit. He missed his friends immensely, most of all Alex. He wasn't that close to Laura since they had only been friends since third year where they had been paired up for Care of Magical Creatures and endless lessons on Flobberworms had provided enough boredom to create conversations.

As for Markus, he didn't care much for him. He was an alright bloke, but he mostly just tagged along with them and Teddy had not forgotten that it had been his stupid idea to bring alcohol.

In contrast Alex had been his friend from day one. The minute he took that place opposite the other boy at Gryffindor table, the two were practically joined at the hip. Of course during term he missed home and the Potters not to forget the whole Weasley clan, but as nice as it was, it was a poor substitute for your best friend. Same went for the few letters the two had exchanged since the start of the holidays.

Therefore Teddy spent the next few days in happy anticipation for the upcoming Thursday. In fact by dinner time on Wednesday he beamed with happiness, which overall made for a much more relaxed atmosphere than most of the summer so far. It was during that dinner that Ginny was going over her plans for the next day.

"I need to get some shopping done in the morning. Jamie and Lily both need new clothes. Teddy could probably do with new robes too."

"No mom! No shopping." 8-year old James cried out desperately and Teddy's attention had quickly turned to the red-head too at the prospect of a morning trying on endless items of clothing. He needn't worry though since his godfather spoke up that minute.

"We can get everything for Teddy together once he has his school list. You just take Jamie and Lily now."

Teddy let out a relieved breath, but not everyone was happy.

"No Dad!" James pleaded, but his parents simply ignored the whining boy and Ginny continued:

"I need to drop into the office for a while after lunch, I leave Al with George & Angelina and drop Jamie and Lily there too for an hour or so."

Albus grinned and secretly stuck out his tongue to his older brother, teasing him about the fact that he would spent the morning with their favourite Uncle and their two cousins while James would be dragged through Diagon Alley. In response the older boy kicked him hard under the table, or so he tried, but Albus had anticipated the move and had withdrawn far enough to be safe from his brother's attack, a smug smile on his face.

Meanwhile Harry had nodded along Ginny's words, but then frowned.

"Ted, can you take the Knight Bus to Alex? There will be no one here to open the floo for you and I rather not leave it open for a longer period."

"The Knight Bus?" Teddy asked doubtful.

Harry looked uncomfortable and his voice sounded apologetic as he said: "Well you could also floo to the Burrow and then go from there."

"No sure, the Knight Bus is fine." The teen hastened to add resuming his meal.

While the rest of the family followed his example, Harry starred at his godson with worry questioning the wisdom of his decision and went on saying:

"You do know how to call it, don't you?"

"Course I do." He replied slightly offended.

"And Alex's address?"

"That too." Teddy answered dryly.

"And you make sure you're careful. You nearly fell out a window once while on there. Maybe you'd better floo ..."

"I was like five Harry." Teddy scoffed disgruntled. "I'll be fine."

Harry gave an embarrassed laugh and waved his hand.

"Sure you will, of course."

They resumed their dinner once more and it was only after the meal, when godson and godfather were alone, that Harry approached the topic once more.

"Are you sure you're fine for tomorrow? We can find someone to apparate or floo you there."

"Nah, I'm fine. Really Harry." The teen pressed with the worry in his head that his godfather would suddenly go back on his word. However Harry only nodded before speaking again.

"No funny business tomorrow. You go straight to Alex and come back by floo before dinner. I vouched for both of you with Alex's parents, so please no messing around. Is that clear?"

"Chrystal." Teddy replied a smile playing around his mouth. "Really, I just want to see Alex. We'll be good."

...

And so it was that after a mediocre self-made lunch that consisted of a ham sandwich and half a bag of crisps, Teddy stepped out of the house and with his wand in hand stood by the road to call the Knight Bus. To his dismay the bus was just was as bad as he remembered it from his childhood when Harry had taken him a few times. It was bumpy, loud, and slightly smelly and some passengers were best described as "interesting". Yet a sense of freedom, satisfaction and achievement filled him. Last week he would have bet his collection of chocolate frog cards against this ever happening. To his surprise though Harry & Ginny really seemed to be making an effort to give him more space and letting him go by himself to Alex using the Knight Bus was a huge step for them. A fact Teddy both acknowledged and valued.

Nevertheless when the conductor announced his stop he was not all too sad to escape his least favourite form of magical transportation either.

Ringing the door bell he had to wait a moment before he could hear footsteps coming for the door. It was Alex's mom, who greeted him surprised.

"Teddy, I was wondering who would ring the door bell. We were expecting you by floo."

"No one could floo me and we have a secured fireplace because of Jamie, Al and Lily." Teddy answered while stepping inside the house.

Mrs. Clearwater mustered him worried as she had a second look at him.

"Do you feel okay? You look a bit green."
"Knight Bus." Teddy answered shortly and the answer seemed to satisfy her as she told him to go upstairs and find Alex in his room.
Two steps at a time Teddy dashed upstairs and with a short knock that he didn't await the answer for, he entered his best friend's room.

Alex was lying on his bed reading, but as soon as he had heard the door he had tossed the book aside and was on his feet to greet his friend. With the excitement of their reunion the two boys would have nearly hugged each other, but halted just seconds before, teenage awkwardness taking over and instead both bursted out at the exact same moment: "Hi, how are you?"
Silence ensued, followed by a sudden eruption of loud laughter and the awkwardness was gone as quick as it had come. With both teenagers comfortably settled on Alex's bed, the grounded teen was the first to speak up.
"I'm so glad you're here. I'm going crazy around here. I'm not allowed to leave the house without mom or dad, no letters, no nothing. I was going to die of boredom."

Teddy had a pained expression on his face as he took in the words, apologetic he replied: "I'm sorry Alex. Really, I shouldn't have come in the first place and you wouldn't have gotten into trouble."
"Are you bonkers? I'm not mad at you. If at all, it was me pestering you to come and to be frank my parents would have probably found out either way. The idea with the alcohol wasn't our brightest."
Teddy nodded with relief.
"Harry read all these pamphlets on underage drinking. We could have gotten into serious trouble. He made me swear not to drink again."
"Same here, longest lecture ever, but they have a point. Especially your godfather, with him being an Auror and everything. It was really decent of him to let us off the hook with a warning ... Markus won't be that lucky though."
While Teddy had silently nodded along, he now raised his head at the last of information. Why was everyone talking in riddles recently?
"What do you mean?"
"Laura wrote me that apparently it wasn't the first time he got caught with alcohol, so his parents got really mad. They grounded him for the entire summer and he will be on special supervision back in Hogwarts . They also threatened to pull him out if his grades aren't improving."
"How does she know all that?" Teddy asked slightly astonished.
"Ah, you know Laura, she could make a tree talk." Alex answered and a moment of thoughtful silence followed, then Teddy confidently announced:
"Well I don't pity him. It was his stupid idea that got us in major trouble and when we tried to stop him, he poked fun at us. He can be kind of a jerk."

Alex first reaction to his proclamation was a certain degree of shock, yet that quickly vanished. Brutal honesty had always been a key factor in their friendship and deep down Alex agreed with his best friend. The sneaking out his parents would have probably let slide with a couple of days grounding or even a few extra chores. It was the drinking, which in his opinion had not even been fun, that had caused his holiday to be the most boring ever. Willing to change the topic he asked:
"So, your resit results in yet?"
"Yeah, passed all of them. Quite good actually, I even managed an EE in potions. Then again Harry practically glued me to my desk."
Alex smiled at Teddy's dramatics that along with his monthly moods he had long become used too.
"I'm glad he did. Honestly Ted, no more skiving next year. It's OWL's year and ..."
"Oh come on, cut me some slack. You sound like Harry." Teddy interrupted a little annoyed.
"Well I don't want to spent my last years at Hogwarts without you."
"Neither do I." Teddy snapped back at him, which caused Alex to shut up and get up from the bed to sit on the desk chair on the other side. This action had Teddy's anger vanquish as fast as it had come and biting his lower lip he looked over to his friend.
"I'm sorry, okay. I didn't mean it and I promise no more skiving. I'll be good and do my homework and keep it together." Teddy said rolling his eyes a bit and finishing by saying: "It's not like I want to be expelled."

Still a little pissed off with his best friend Alex mocked: "You were singing a different tune last year."
Sheepishly Teddy had to admit: "I was wrong ... there happy. I do care, just please stop the guilt trip I have enough of that at home."
Joining him back on the bed again Alex said sympathetically: "Tough summer, huh?"
The blue-haired teen only shrugged in response, which left Alex irritated.
"Well I tell you what, stop the pity party, because I'm the one who is still grounded for over a week and I didn't even fly unallowed to London like someone else I know." Alex said mock sternly, which had the hoped the effect as Teddy stuck out his tongue and then started laughing infectiously.

It was at that moment that Mrs. Clearwater entered the room, a tea tray and biscuits in her hands.
"Mom I told you to knock." Alex scowled, but his mother didn't seem to acknowledge him as she set the tray down on his desk.
"Watch your tone young man, besides I did knock. While I'm happy you have fun, you could keep it down a bit please." Mrs. Clearwater scolded and before Alex could make an unwise comment, Teddy quickly barged in.
"Of course Mrs. Clearwater, we're sorry. Thank you for the tea." He gave her his best polite smile and she fondly looked at him with admiration causing the boy next to him to roll his eyes and whisper to him.
"Tosser."
Meanwhile Alex's mum was on her way out, where she paused in the door to address her son's friend.
"Oh Teddy, your godfather just called and asked if everything was okay. He said to remind you to floo home before dinner at seven o'clock."

When she had closed the door Alex got himself a cup of tea, offering the other to Teddy he asked: "What was that about? He never calls here when you're over."

"I came by Knight Bus and he is checking on me." Teddy answered his voice free of any sentiment, but then sighed. "They are trying to give me more space, but I can tell they don't fully trust me."

"You're a nutter. You have more liberty than the rest of us combined. For all the stunts you pulled last year my mom would have grounded me to Gryffindor tower for the rest of my schooling and have Peeves follow me to classes." Alex exclaimed shaking his head in disbelief remembering the countless offences his best friend had racked up in the last term alone. From skiving classes, to missing homework and disrespect to teachers Teddy had spent more time in detention than out. In fact when he had on purpose over-fertilized a badge of Devil Snare while in detention and thus killed the precious plants, Alex had been sure their Head of House and Herbology professor would flip and issue a suspension. Instead though there had been another talk between Professor Longbottom and Teddy's godfather and in the end Teddy had been assigned a double detention and had to pay for the ruined plants, while his godfather only gave him a stern lecture. So really his friend had no reason to complain about his godparents, yet the teenager obviously disagreed.

"You don't understand, Harry watches my every move and he grounded me. Actually told me the very words." Teddy tried to explain, but Alex would have none of it, not when he was the one stuck in his room for another 10 days.

"And you tell me you didn't expect that to happen?"

"Well the last time he grounded me I was like 8 years old or something."

"Yeah like I said, because your godfather is super cool. But even he can only let you get away with so much and you've been pushing the line for pretty much a year." Alex reasoned and then said in a lighter tone in an effort to cheer his friend up: "Anyway it's over and done with, so you can enjoy the rest of the holidays, right?"

"I guess so." Teddy shrugged. "I'm not allowed to fly though, which gets tiring when it is all Jamie recently talks about. And then we go on this stupid holiday to Teignmouth. I mean come on, could you think of a more boring place?"

"This house with no one, but my mom and her tea parties for entertainment." Alex offered solemnly causing both boys to fall into fits of laughter once more.

A couple of hours ,several chocolate frogs, which Teddy had brought in an effort of making amends, and four chess games later, it was time for him to leave. But while he was sad that he would probably not see Alex before their return to Hogwarts, he also felt much lighter than hours before. Alex had been pretty straight forward in telling him that his behaviour towards Harry had been out of line and that he really couldn't blame the man for taking action. And although Alex had been upset to find out about the threat to pull him out of Quidditch and Hogsmeade trips, both boys assured each other that they had nothing to worry about since Teddy would not go back to last year's mistakes. Indeed that was what Alex prayed for. He had tried to get Teddy to get it together in the past school year as well, but had stopped preaching when his best friend had made clear that he could either be his friend or chaperon, but not both. An argument that had taken several days to clear, but as so often they had been fine in the end. Still Alex was relieved to have the old Teddy back and not having to deal with the worry of losing his best friend.