Note: I would just like to point out that, since I can't stand the taste of alcohol/have been on daily medication that probably wouldn't mix well with drink since I was 12, I've never been drunk. So, the "side effects" that Remus and Dora note below might well be entirely wrong, since they are based on stuff I've been told over the years and Wikipedia – I don't know if it would come across so extremely in reality...so...humour me, boys and girls! :-)
Sorry for the shortness of this chapter...I have 5 days left to finish my last project/practice for a test, then I will probably be on a work placement for about two weeks...but I should have more time to write then as at least I won't have any work to do when I get home each day!
13: Intoxicated
Carrie felt as if her head were spinning.
The thumping music of the party was more than she could bear, and she stumbled hurriedly around the edge of the cottage and felt relieved to slip silently through the front door and inside.
At first she thought the place deserted, and she very nearly let out a sigh of relief at the peace and quiet until she spotted a figure sat before the fire. The muggle promptly jumped.
From where he sat facing away from her, Remus Lupin glanced over his shoulder to spot his son's girlfriend, before going back to stare at the ashes of the long since burnt out fire.
"Having fun?" the werewolf inquired, leaning back upon the sofa so that he could stretch his legs out in front of him, and the muggle simply stood for a long moment, staring at the back of his head.
Eventually, Carrie settled on a rather uncertain:
"Mm..."
As he drained the last few drops of fire whiskey from the glass tumbler he had been balancing somewhat precariously upon one knee, the muggle felt compelled to shuffle across the room until she could perch upon the arm of the sofa at his side.
"Remus?"
"Carrie."
Carrie rocked back and forward upon her perch for a moment, sucking in a deep, audible breath before wondering:
"Did you ever do something...something you can't explain? Like...like you don't know why you did it?"
As he reached to retrieve a bottle from the coffee table so that he could refill his glass, Remus' expression was mildly amused.
"I doubt it." he said as he unscrewed the lid of the bottle, tossing it onto the table. "Something I'd be ashamed to explain, perhaps...or something I'd chose to forget the explanation for..." He eyed the bottle, eyebrows knitting together for a moment as he mused: "Or perhaps one could just plain forget..."
"What about not knowing why you're doing it...whilst you're doing it?" Carrie asked, slumping sideways with a deep frown of bemusement at her recent exploits, and as her head came to rest against the werewolf's shoulder he gave a rather frustrating chuckle.
"I'd hazard a guess that, in a situation such as that, you'd be lying to yourself Carrie." he said, pouring himself a generous measure of amber liquid and reaching, quite awkwardly now that she was leant against him, to put the bottle back down.
Carrie's face contorted worriedly at this conclusion and after a long pause she found herself admitting:
"I think, Remus...I think I might be going a little mad."
Again, Remus merely chuckled.
"I shouldn't worry about that if I were you." he told the muggle, glancing sideways as she gave a heavy sigh. "Happens to the best of us."
Carrie couldn't help but feel that he wasn't taking her terribly seriously, which was deeply unfortunate because he could usually be relied upon to do exactly that, and right now she wanted nothing more than to talk deadly seriously. She eyed the bottle of fire whiskey in an attempt to determine how much of it he had consumed, musing that perhaps he was a little on the inebriated side, but she found it difficult to decide. She'd never caught him more than a little merry in all the years that she had known him, so she hadn't much of an example to judge his current state against. He wasn't slurring his words in the slightest, yet he looked distinctly sleepy...
The muggle wondered whether or not he would be offended if she just came out with it and asked...
"How much have you had to drink this afternoon?"
To hear him steal the words straight from the tip of her tongue made Carrie jump, narrowly avoiding head-butting him in the temple.
"What?" she asked, hastily sitting up straight, wobbling at the sudden movement.
Remus took a moment to take a sip of his drink, as if politely waiting for her to finish being flustered and compose herself a little, before again inquiring:
"How much have you had to drink this afternoon?"
"I've had half a butterbeer!" Carrie informed him indigently, folding her arms firmly across her chest.
"If you say so." Remus murmured, evidently disbelieving, and Carrie felt quite furious at him for yet again being so out of character.
"I lost my balance just now, that's all!" she cried, offering him the best scowl that she could muster. "Dora does it all the time! You don't...you don't ask Dora if she's drunk when she slips on something, do you?"
"That's because she'd hex me." Remus pointed out nonchalantly, waving a dismissive hand as he assured her: "It was just a question, Carrie. You're a big girl, I honestly don't care whether you've had a couple too many or not..."
"I haven't!"
"Alright then."
In the ensuing silence, Carrie felt a sudden wave of guilt and embarrassment at having snapped at him so rudely, but she felt far too ashamed to even mumble an apology.
Remus drained his glass again and got to his feet, making a beeline for the kitchen sink.
"Do you want a glass of water?" he asked, and Carrie had to bite her tongue against snapping again.
He thinks I'm plastered, she realised, reaching to rake a frustrated hand through her hair. Of course it probably had to do with all of the questions she had just asked him, and if she looked as dazed as she felt right now after her encounter with Kit in the woods...well!
"No thank you." she managed to reply in what she hoped was a perfectly sober manner. It shouldn't be difficult, after all she wasn't drunk in the slightest.
Not in the traditional sense of the word, at least. No, Carrie felt more inebriated in the sense that she had just done something utterly unforgivable and dreadful, had enjoyed it immensely, and was feeling increasingly confused and worried and bordering on frightened.
And she couldn't tell a soul.
"It wasn't really a question." Remus admitted as he retrieved a clean glass from the draining board, and Carrie managed a rather weary little laugh, just as the door to the cottage opened and Dora stumbled in, casting a brief glance at Carrie as she headed to join her husband at the sink.
"Wotcher Carrie love."
"Hi Dora." Carrie mumbled, preoccupied with eying Remus somewhat wearily as he poured her some water.
"You're hiding!" the muggle heard the witch observe as she reached her husband, arms sliding around him as her head came to rest against his back with a rather telling giggle.
"Headache." the werewolf muttered, pausing in his task when her hold upon him rendered him somewhat immobile.
"Mm..." Dora frowned, turning a little until she could cast a glance sideways to catch sight of the fire whiskey upon the coffee table. "Figures!" she sniggered, and Remus smirked.
"It's the music, actually." he murmured, voice so low that Carrie could only just make it out. "I'd say I was remarkably sober...compared to some..." he trailed off into an inaudible whisper, but he may as well have shouted for it was soon startlingly obvious what he had been speaking of. Dora slowly released him and wandered in a non-too casual manner to stand in front of Carrie. The witch leant forward a little, staring at the muggle directly in the eye, before concluding with a snigger:
"Bloody hell, Remus! I think you're right!"
Carrie opened her mouth to point out yet again that she wasn't drunk in the slightest, but promptly closed it again when she wondered exactly what it was about her face that was apparently so telling.
"What?" she mumbled, reaching to touch a hand to her cheek experimentally, but Dora simply straightened up, eyebrow arched as she asked:
"So...where's Ted gotten to then? You've not left him passed out in a bush somewhere, have you?"
At mention of Teddy, Carrie shifted uncomfortably where she sat, cheeks tinged a guilty shade of pink.
Merlin...the mere thought of Teddy! Her Teddy who she adored above everything, who had been her best friend for so many years...
"Take that as a yes then, shall I?" Dora concluded, puffing her cheeks in exasperation as she muttered: "Sweet Merlin..." And with that, she dissolved into laughter.
"No, he's...with Samuel or something." Carrie decided, suddenly remembering that she had actually been asked a question.
"Excellent," the witch grinned, sauntering back over towards her husband. "Here's an idea then, Carrie love, stick to water for the rest of the afternoon, eh? We've had enough of people throwing up all over the place for one holiday, don't you reckon Remus?"
"I'd say so, yes." Remus agreed with a small frown, and with that Carrie found the glass of water being levitated across the room to hover in front of her. No sooner had her hand enclosed around the glass, the couple made a beeline for the door, disappearing outside and leaving the muggle entirely alone.
Carrie instantly abandoned the glass upon the coffee table, jumped to her feet and made a run for her designated bedroom. There, she hurried to peer at herself in the small mirror upon the wall, heart hammering in her chest in anticipation.
At first glance, Carrie could see nothing particularly remarkable about the reflection staring back at her. Her cheeks were admittedly a little flushed, but apart from that...
The muggle gasped, reaching to press a horrified hand to her mouth.
The pupils of her eyes were massively dilated, a couple of vast black pools that left a lump to form in her throat.
What in Merlin's name...
"REMUS! DORA!"
Carrie ran in panic back out of the bedroom, across the sitting room towards the front door and flung it open, gaze darting searchingly around for couple, and she just about caught sight of Dora's vibrant hair as she and Remus sidled their way through the crowd. Carrie dashed after them, pushing her way past a raucous group of dancers and very nearly causing an elderly wizard to splash wine down the front of his robes.
"Watch it!" the man cried indigently, but Carrie barely heard him, so intent was she on catching up with the Lupins.
"REMUS!" As she broke free of the crowd her final shout finally seemed to catch their attention, and the couple paused in their talking to turn and regard the breathless muggle as she came to a stumbling halt before them.
"What's wrong?" Remus asked as Dora offered the muggle a raised eyebrow.
"My EYES!" Carrie cried, widening the eyes in question in agitation. "What's wrong with them?"
The couple gazed at her wide-eyed face for a second, before Dora promptly dissolved into laughter, turning to bury her face in Remus' shoulder. As the werewolf visibly fought against a grin, Carrie felt compelled to inform the two of them:
"THIS ISN'T BLOODY FUNNY!"
"Of course it isn't." Remus agreed, attempting to sober and reaching to give Dora a firm push away from him. "Dora, stop laughing this instant!"
"I can't!" the witch choked out between her laughter. "I swear it, I can't..."
"Ignore her." Remus suggested, stepping forward to lay a steady hand upon the muggle's shoulder. "She's been at the Killing Juice."
"Killing Juice?"
"Mm...it's green for a reason, you know! It's not killed her yet, but it's made her awfully giggly."
When Dora merely reached to bury her face in her hands, laughing more than ever, Remus reached to steer Carrie away from her for a few steps.
"What's wrong with me?" Carrie asked once she was finished shooting Dora the filthiest look that she could muster, not that the witch appeared to notice, "What's...why do my eyes look...look so strange?"
"There's nothing wrong with you, Carrie." Remus assured her, "you'll be fine by morning..."
Carrie promptly rounded on him, stepping back until her shoulder was free of his hand.
"I'm not drunk!" she insisted furiously. "I'm not! I told you, I had some butterbeer!"
Remus sighed heavily, reaching to rub a weary hand across his eyes.
"Carrie, like I said earlier, I honestly don't care whether or not..."
"I'm not lying! Do I sound drunk to you?"
"Not particularly, no..."
"Well then!"
"...but I don't see any other reasonable explanation for you to look so...well..."
"Utterly pissed!"
"Thank you, Dora..." Remus sighed again, frowning deeply at his wife's interruption, and his face contorted in annoyance when Dora wandered back to his side and announced in an exaggerated whisper:
"Well there is another explanation that I know of..."
"Be quiet, Dora."
Dora'e eyes grew wide and Carrie was just musing that her pupils looked rather worse for wear too when the witch hissed:
"Maybe she's under the Imperius Curse!"
At this notion, Carrie's blood ran cold, Dora's instant laughter doing little to make her feel any better.
"Dora be quiet." Remus insisted, reaching to clamp a hand over the witch's mouth. "That's not funny."
"Neither's you naming a drink after the Killing Curse!" Dora informed him once she had managed to yank his hand away her mouth. "Let's just accept it, Remus, we're both slightly sick and twisted individuals..."
"Dora...!"
At long last spotting the look of horror on Carrie's face, the Auror managed to wipe the amusement clear from her face. Despite herself Carrie found herself musing that really it was quite an impressive shift in expressions. It probably took practice, the muggle thought, which rather begged the question: when did the Auror get the chance? She rarely drank heavily from what Carrie knew...
"I'm just kidding, Carrie love." Dora assured her with a reassuring smile. "Remus is right...somebody probably spiked the butterbeer or something. I wouldn't put it past that lot, would you? Look at them...!"
"Somebody spiked my drink?"
"Probably!"
Carrie frowned deeply, shaking her head.
"I...I don't think so..." she mumbled, reaching to scratch the back of her neck worriedly, but Dora shrugged and insisted:
"Well it's the only logical reason..."
"What about the Imperius Curse?" Carrie asked, folding her arms firmly across her chest, and Dora rolled her eyes.
"You're not under the Imperius Curse, Carrie." she said, "if you were you wouldn't know about it..."
"The phrase is if you were you would know about it." Carrie pointed out rather irritably, and Dora sniggered.
"I know what the phrase is, love, and I wasn't trying to use it."
"What Dora's trying to say," Remus interjected, "is that if you were under the Imperius Curse, nobody in their right mind would send you to follow us and ask if you were under the Imperius Curse, would they?"
"But then again," Dora mused, sounding abruptly thoughtful, "I'd say if you're the sort of person who puts another person under the Imperius Curse you're probably not in any sort of right mind at all..."
"Dora?"
"Hm?"
"Be quiet."
"Right..."
Remus offered Carrie a look of sheer exasperation before smiling and suggesting:
"Try and get an early night once all this is over. You'll be right as rain by morning, I'm sure of it."
"Well..." Carrie mumbled, shifting her feet a little anxiously, "if...if you're quite sure..."
"We're positive, love." Dora insisted, nodding her head a little too vigorously than was strictly necessary. "Honestly! Why don't you run and find Ted and warn him off the butterbeer for the rest of the day?"
"Yes..." Carrie agreed, frowning deeply. "Yes, I should really, shouldn't I?" She offered the couple a fleeting smile before turning to hurry away in search of Teddy.
"Under the Imperius Curse...!" she heard Remus mutter disapprovingly almost as soon as she had turned her back on them. "Honestly, Nymphadora..."
"Don't you DARE..."
"...utterly ridiculous and unbelievable insensitive! You Aurors, you're all the same! Disgraceful sense of humour..."
"Take it back! Take back the name, or I swear..."
"I certainly won't. You're too far gone to remember me using it, I'll make the most of this opportunity thank you very m..."
Carrie glanced back just in time to see the werewolf's sentence cut off by his wife's sudden stranglehold around his neck, the last syllables smothered by a distinctly clumsy kiss that very nearly made him stumble and trip over his own feet.
Carrie sidled her way back through the crowd, the Auror's small small shriek of amusement drifting after her. The muggle had to admit to herself that she felt only marginally calmer after Remus and Dora's assurances. Dora seemed a little too tipsy to have her opinion wholly relied upon, and Remus still didn't seem to be taking her terribly seriously. Carrie felt a somewhat sinking feeling at this second thought. Perhaps she was right, perhaps they truly were growing tired of her ups and downs.
She wandered somewhat aimlessly through the village, dodging dancers and gazing aimlessly around, quite lost in thought, and it was not long until she had entirely forgotten what it was she was supposed to tell Teddy when she found him. Indeed after a while she wasn't quite sure that she was looking for Teddy in the first place...
She had come to stand idly by one of the tables that had already been cleared of food, save for a lonely cocktail sausage or two, when she heard movement just behind her, and quite suddenly the world became obscured by a pair of hands being clamped down over her eyes. She failed to suppress a small gasp of surprise, only to dissolve into giggles as a voice behind her whispered:
"Guess who?"
It took Carrie a long moment to stifle her amusement just long enough to give a very confident guess:
"Kit!" she laughed, reaching to pull his hands away so that she could spin around to face him, only for the laughter to promptly die on her face as Teddy Lupin frowned deeply, his hands dropping heavily to his sides as he admitted:
"No...not him..."