Brain Melting Liquor
'Alright, drink up, boys.' She said, wiping down the table with a cloth.
Snape knocked it back and grimaced slightly. Remus took the glass and lifted it to his mouth, but his hand was shaking so much it merely chattered against his teeth. Ellie took a seat opposite them and poured herself a small amount.
'You are going to tell me what happened,' she took a sip. 'You are going to tell me everything and you will not leave until I know.'
'I don't take orders from werewolves.' Snape told her tightly. His hand was already reaching for his jacket.
Ellie looked at him with her piercing blue eyes and his hand dropped to his side. 'You will take this order, Severus, or disobeying me will be the very last thing you do.'
He gave a barely perceptible nod and lowered his eyes to the glass. Ellie plastered a falsely cheerful smile on her face and refilled their drinks. If she got Snape and Remus relaxed enough, maybe they would be more willing to talk about their experience in the Pettigrew house. If Snape drank all the liquor in the bottle, he would only be relaxed enough to blink more than three times a minute.
'Snape. Why were you at Alexia's house?' Ellie asked, as he did not seem inclined to tell her of his own accord.
'She wanted me to make a potion for her.'
'Elaborate.'
'What if I don't feel like it?'
She gave him a patronising smile. 'I've already told you the consequences of not obeying me.'
'Fine. I was making a potion to make her child look like the father was Peter.'
Was it his imagination or did her eye's widen slightly? 'Her baby isn't Peter's?'
'You're a genius, you know that?'
'Whose is it?'
'Wouldn't you like to know?' He grabbed his jacket. 'I'm going. You can't scare me.' As soon as he had the tattered black cloak, he Disapparated.
'Remus?' She asked carefully.
He looked up from the glass and frowned. 'Ellie?' His voice was thick. 'How did I get home?' Remus' eyes flitted around the room. 'Where is all the blood?'
'There is no blood.'
He shook himself. 'Can I have a shower?'
'Will you be alright?'
She did not like the blank look he gave her. Ellie watched as he made his way up the stairs and found the bathroom. To take her mind off the job of extracted information from Remus, she cleaned up the kitchen and put away the liquor for next time. After twenty minutes, she got a little worried but waited longer. Another ten minutes went by and Ellie knocked on the bathroom door.
'Remus?' She asked.
There was a noise from the other side, so he was still alive. That did not mean a lot to her so there was only one more thing to do. The door opened after the third kick and Ellie entered. The entire room was smothered in the steam from the shower and Remus was standing under the stream of water, not moving or even acknowledging her presence.
She turned off the water and wrapped a big, fluffy towel around Remus' shoulders. As if trying to coax a young child, Ellie whispered encouragement into his ear and managed to make him walk into the adjoining bedroom. Once there, she put some nightclothes on him and sat him down on the bed.
'How are you feeling?' She asked him.
'Sleepy.' As if in response to his words, he yawned widely.
'Wrong answer.' Ellie muttered. She pulled a small vial off the chain hanging around her neck. 'Remus, this is your last chance. Will you tell me what happened?' His uncomprehensive stare was enough. 'Open your mouth.'
Like an obedient dog, he opened his mouth and Ellie let three drops of the potion land on his tongue. Remus sat up straighter instantly.
'Alright, now I'm going to ask you a few questions...' She said, but in vain. He would not understand anything other than a question. Ellie decided to test the potion. 'What is your name?'
'Remus Jupiter Lupin.' He said in a voice that was flat and toneless.
'Where were you this evening?'
'The Drunken Dragon, the Pettigrew House and Ellie McDonald's House.'
Ellie nodded. It made sense that Remus and Severus would meet up at the dingy pub before going to the Pettigrew House. 'What did you do at the Pettigrew House?'
'I hid in the bushes until Severus gave me the sign. When I saw it, I crept up to the window and slipped in. I found Alexia Pettigrew's bedroom. I saw her lying on the bed. When she saw me, she tried to use a killing curse, but I ducked. I hid behind the wardrobe for protection. It fell and it landed on her. There was so much blood... After that, I looked under the bed. I found her journal. Severus came and found me. We left.'
'Did you know that it was Alexia Pettigrew you were after?'
'No. I had never been to her house before. Severus didn't tell me. He likes hurting people.'
'Where is the journal now?'
'In my coat. Left hand pocket.'
Ellie picked up his coat from the floor, where she had dropped it so she could help him into his pyjamas. As he said, the journal was in the left pocket. It had a worn cover with the name "Alexia Pettigrew" carved into it. As she flicked through the pages, she noted that the girl had not written everyday or even on a regular basis. However, when she did, she wrote in a rather cryptic way, contradicting herself. It would have made sense to her, Ellie reasoned.
It was early in the morning when she finished reading the journal. Remus had fallen into a fitful sleep, but some time during the night, he had stopped tossing and turning. Ellie sighed heavily as she read the last page and looked over the top of the book to check on him. She hoped the rest had helped him.
'Remus?' She asked softly. Placing the book on the table next to her, Ellie walked over to the bed and shook his gently. 'Wake up, love.'
He jolted out of sleep and stared at her like a stranger before recognising her familiar face. Remus ran a hand over his unshaven face and blinked a few times. His eyes felt gritty and he wondered how bloodshot they would be; they were always bloodshot when he could not remember the evening before well.
'Ellie.' He murmured. 'I think...I think I killed someone last night...'
With a movement Remus did not pick up in his state, Ellie had her wand out and pointed to him. 'Stupefy!" The poor man fell back on the bed and Ellie let out a breath. She raised her eyes to the roof. 'Ok, guys, you owe me one. I've done a lot of messed up stuff for you, now I need your help.'
'That doesn't sound like the Ellie McDonald we hired,' a voice said behind her. She spun around and a tight smile formed on her face.
He was gorgeous. He had bronze skin, which was glowing from something unearthly. Short, copper hair curled against his scalp. The man was six foot, at least, and he wore his clothes like a second skin. The shirt he wore hugged his body and showed off the muscles a professional would kill for. As Ellie raised an eyebrow, he flashed her a dazzling smile, showing off his perfect, white teeth.
'What do you need?' He asked.
'Well, this isn't going exactly to plan.' She sighed and sat down in a seat. The man sat on the table and picked up the journal, which he skimmed as she spoke. 'Remus and Snape went after her too early. I couldn't get Dumbledore to come in time. I needed him to Obliviate his memory, since it would look suspicious if I did it...'
'Hey hey hey, calm down there, Ms McDonald.' He said in the sexiest voice on the planet. It was slightly husky, and did odd things to women. Ellie was too worried to be affected, however.
'Will you help me, please?'
'Sure thing. What do you need me to do?'
'Turn into Professor Albus Dumbledore.'
'No problem.' He clicked his fingers and instead of the hunk, the old Headmaster stood there. 'How is this?'
Ellie brightened. 'It's brilliant. Thank you so much. Now, stand there and I'll revive him. When I say three, Obliviate his memory.' "Dumbledore" did as she requested, and Ellie brought out her wand. "Enervate!"
Remus groaned and managed to sit upright. 'Why'd you go and do a thing like that, Ellie? What did I do?'
'This...' Ellie said, and the room filled with the memory of Alexia's death.
Remus was standing it front of a giant bed. Alexia was lying on it, her eyes closed, but she was not asleep. The moment Remus took another step, she sat upright, fired a curse at him and he ducked behind a wardrobe.
'Remus? What are you doing here?' She asked him curiously.
'I was looking for Voldemort's mistress.' He replie, the fact that she was who he was looking for not sinking in just yet.
'She's not here.' Alexia said, a smile on her face.
'I know it's you...how could you, Alexia?'
Her eyes narrowed and she drew herself up. 'I had to, Remus. It was the only way Lily could learn.'
'Learn what?'
'Learn...well, learn...wait, it's not your business!' Alexia threw another curse at the wardrobe.
It took the curse, but began to shake. Violently. Before Remus could stop it, the wardrobe was tipping over. Everything was in slow motion, almost. He looked around the side and saw as Alexia's eyes widened and her hand lost its grip on the wand. The wand hit the floor and a few green and silver spark flew from the end. His own wand was shoved in his belt, which was under his shirt and under his robes. He cursed the fact he wore so much clothes and he plucked for the wand.
The wardrobe fell on her, and Remus looked up from his searching. The look on Alexia's face made him feel cold all over. Her head had hit the floor hard, and whether her eyes were closed from unconsciousness or squeezed shut from pain, Remus did not know. He saw a dark stain spreading from under the wardrobe and he knew he had to get out of there. But he did not want to leave her to die like that.
He carefully brushed aside his robes, lifted up his shirt and removed the wand from the belt. Remus performed the first Charm he had ever learnt: the Levitation Charm. "Swish and Flick", he thought as he always did when using the Charm. 'Wingardium Leviosa.'
The wardrobe lifted slowly, but did not fall back down. Remus placed it back where it had been and then knelt beside his old friend. 'Alexia...can you hear me?' She made no response. 'Please? I'm sorry.'
It was strange that he was the one saying sorry. He had not been the one who had aimed the curse at the wardrobe, and he should have felt angry at her for being the lover of the murderer of so many innocent people. However, Remus was used to things being his fault. It was his fault he was a werewolf (he should not have been outside on a full moon!). It was his fault that his parents were poor. It was his fault his brother was teased at school.
As he looked down at Alexia, all he felt was pity. He wiped some hair away from her face before hearing the door being opened. Snape looked at him with disdain, which was not unusual.
'You killed her?' He asked.
Remus raised his eyes to him. 'I hope not, Snape.'
'Where is the hardened beast when I need him?'
He stood and scowled. 'We're going home.'
'I know. I had to knock down the lab door. It made some noise.'
'There's a fireplace in the other room. The Floo Powder is to the side.' Remus was feeling a little dizzy now. He followed Snape blindly into the antechamber and hoped he could say the name right.
'Ellie?' Remus asked weakly. 'Why is there so much blood? Why can't I get it off? I don't want to know this. There's too much blood!'
'It will be alright, Mr Lupin.' "Dumbledore" told him calmly. 'Why don't you tell me what is the matter?'
'I can't. Professor! Please! Can you...can you make me forget?' Remus' eyes lit up at the prospect of forgetting his ordeal.
'Are you sure you want to do that?'
He nodded. 'Please. I'm begging you to get rid of the memory!'
'Very well.' "Dumbledore" raised his wand and said: "Obliviate!"
A dazed expression crossed Remus' face before he looked around. 'Oh, hello Professor Dumbledore. What are you doing here?'
'I just helped you forget something. Miss McDonald, I don't believe I'll have that second cup of tea. Thank you for your hospitality.'
'My pleasure, Professor.' She gave him a relieved smile.
He winked at her and hummed a tuneless song as he walked down the stairs. Remus turned to Ellie. 'What happened? What did I need to forget?'
'If you wanted to know, do you think you would have asked Professor Dumbledore to Obliviate your memory?' She asked, her mouth twitching at the sides.
'Good point. It irritates me, though. You know what my parents did? They Obliviated my memory of being bitten!'
She rolled her eyes and walked over to the bed so she could smooth a piece of hair that was annoying her by sticking up. 'Parents!'
Author's Note: I hate this chapter. Thanks for the reviews of the excuses, lol.
