Untitled
Chapter Twenty-One; January sixth
Packing have always been a problem to the Female population, it was even harder when you don't even know how long you are staying away. But for Alicia was this even harder than usual, she was only allowed bringing one bag, and in that bag she had to fit everything she needed.
She have already tried to do an extraction charm on the bag, but failed miserably, why couldn't she do it right? She had always been a little bit worse at charms than other subjects.
"How's the packing going?" Alicia spun around and saw Tonks standing in the doorway, holding a thin package in her hands.
"Awful, I can't do the extraction charm right, it keeps getting smaller instead." She wrinkled her nose and sighed. "Stupid bag."
Tonks smiled, and held the package forward to Alicia. "I got you something, seeing as you are going to the warmth."
Carefully Alicia took the package; she sat down on the bad and placed it on her lap as she opened it. Inside it was a black and white bikini.
"I was thinking that maybe you would like it since you are going to Spain." Tonks said happily, nodding to herself. "It's warm there and you look like you never really experienced the sun, or are part albino, even a vampire for that matter."
"It would probably look great on a person that doesn't have a big and ugly scar over her stomach." Alicia muttered to herself and looked at the gift.
"Oh." Tonks smile faded as she remembered and sat down on the bed next to Alicia. "Sorry, I didn't think of that."
"Don't worry; I know that you didn't mean anything by it." Alicia said and closed the box. "I like it, it's a great gift."
"You seem so tense, nervous?" Tonks asked.
"It's nothing. I just don't really want to meet Katie, cause I really don't know how be around her after everything that's happened." Alicia confessed.
"Then why didn't you tell Kingsley that you didn't want to meet her, I bet that he would make an exception for you." Tonks smiled.
"Maybe, but I have to meet her sometime, can't keep avoiding her forever." Alicia answered.
"Like with George." Tonks stated.
Alicia didn't answer, she remained silent.
"Remus said that he asked for you, wondered how you are." Tonks continued when Alicia still didn't say anything.
"Don't lie; I know that he wouldn't do that." Alicia said, she knew that Tonks probably weren't lying, but she didn't want to believe her.
"Alicia, is this because of what Lee said to you? Why would you listen to him, he probably is over exaggerating about it all." Tonks said.
"No, you don't get it; Lee isn't the person to hold a grudge, when he is mad at someone he's probably only showing less than half of the real anger." Alicia said. "I really screwed up this time and I do think that Lee is right about that George won't to forgive me this time."
Tonks opened her moth to say something but Alicia interrupted her.
"Now, I need to pack, Casey'll be here in half an hour." She said.
Tonks stood up from the bed and took the bag. "I'll fix that extraction charm for you."
"Thanks."
Casey Stephens, age of 36, husband of Kendra and father of four year old Carson. Currently in England while the rest of his family, except his brother in-law, safely were in Canada with some good family friends. Before his very stubborn wife had let him get back to England she had made her brother Kingsley to promise that he would bring him back safely, or she'd kill him as well. Kendra's brother Kingsley, who never was so very fond of his little sister's choice of husband, promised her to bring him back safely, but only because his sister loved him.
Casey had on this day returned from Canada, after spending Christmas with his wife and son, his first thing to do was to get Alicia over to the safe location where they later would take a portkey to the other safe location in Spain.
"Hey Spinnet." He greeted Alicia when he's standing in the hallway waiting for Alicia.
"Hello Casey." She responded rather mull and took on her shoes and jacket and said goodbye to the other people in the house. Promising Tonks that she'll be back to when the baby came, which should be in the end of April, and then taking the bag and leaving with Casey.
"Are you alright? You seem a little down." Casey asked her when he had started the car and the house was out of view.
"I'm fine, just a little tired." Alicia answered.
Casey nodded; there was something he needed to tell her. "Alicia, I'm sorry about your dad." Jonathan Spinnet had been the one who had trained him, who had helped him get through the three years of training.
"Thanks." Alicia responded, she was staring out of the window, not once had she turned her head too look at him. "How's your family?" She asked, still looking out the window.
"They're alright, Kendra is worrying about Kingsley. Now that Dumbledore gone, most people would think that he was the new leader of the Order." He glanced at her, he was not sure if she was even listening, but he continued to talk. "Carson is getting big, talking all the time, talking to his stuffed animals..." He trailed off; she still didn't seem to listen.
"How are you doing? I heard about what you did at the ministry in September, that's quite a brave thing to do..." He glanced at her again; he wondered what had happened to her to make her so... hollow, in lack of better words. When he and Kendra used to have Alicia over as a child she was always full of energy, and when he had met her just a year ago at Cathy Spinnet's wedding had she been happily talking and so full of energy as well. Now he got the feeling that she was empty, maybe even grieving.
"I heard that you got engaged to... what's-his-name." Casey couldn't remember the name of the guy. "Sad to leave him behind?" If it even is a he, Casey thought to himself.
For the first time she turned to look at him. "I'm not engaged anymore." She told him and then turned her head back to the window.
"Oh..." Suddenly he felt like an idiot. "I'm sorry to hear that." He added, feeling like a deep shit idiot for taking that up, the break up was probably the reason for her mulled mood.
"You know, even though I have been married to Kendra for ten years I feel like a teenager when I'm meeting Kingsley without Kendra there. It's like that time when I was nineteen and had to tell Kingsley; 'Yes Mr. Shacklebolt, I'm the idiot who's shagging your sister'." Casey chuckled; he glanced at Alicia and saw the corner of her mouth move, but not break out in a full smile.
Casey gave up at trying to make her smile, but it still bothered him to see her so sad. The rest of the trip was in silence. Neither of them said anything. Alicia leaned back into her seat and looked out the window onto the bypassing landscape.
"Casey." Alicia suddenly turned toward him and asked. "Do you know anyone named Sara Miller?"
"Um..." He thought of it. "I don't think so, why?"
"Just wondering." She answered disappointed and turned her head back.
Alicia wondered a lot if Katie would act differently toward her, if she knew that she was the biggest reason that she and George wasn't together anymore. It almost felt stranger that Katie didn't act any different toward her; Katie was happy to see her and hugged her like a
friend who hadn't done anything wrong toward its other friend. She hadn't met Katie since three weeks after the ministry event.
"Hey Alicia, it's good to see you." Katie said to her.
"Yeah, same here." Alicia muttered without even meaning it.
"We are going to have so much fun, even though we'll be trapped inside a house." Katie continued.
Alicia didn't do anything she simply nodded.
Katie continued to talk about stuff that Alicia didn't really listened to, she was too busy trying to find reasons not to hit her, reasons that it was unnecessary to hit her right now, maybe later would be a better time. She did feel an urge of anger toward the minor woman, and she needed to do something about it
Travelling by portkey was never anything that could be considered fun or even enjoyable. Once they were on solid ground again, Alicia felt that kind of I-want-to-vomit-feeling that always came after travelling by portkey and collapsed to the ground. She wasn't used to travelling by portkey.
Suddenly she felt herself being helped up to her feet; she turned around to see who helped her. "Thanks Casey." She said and took up her bag.
"You're welcome." He responded.
"How are we getting there?" She asked him looking around; civilisation was nowhere to be seen.
"It's about a twenty minute walk." Casey said and pointed toward the direction they were heading.
The walk continued in silence, Alicia wondered at first why Katie didn't speak to her anymore, not that it was annoying her, but she still wondered. Maybe Katie had noticed Alicia's cold mood and decided that she should be on the low front for a while. Or maybe she just had nothing more to say to her.
The house that they were going to stay at was actually two houses, the slightly larger house, which had two floors to difference from the other, was in the back of the property and the minor one at the front. The only thing between the two houses was a pool. The house was in a beautiful and very Spain-like yellow colour and had lots green ivy braches crawling up the walls. It looked like something that could only be found in a tourist magazine.
"Beautiful house isn't it?" Katie said to Alicia with a small smile and caught up with her.
"Yeah." Alicia couldn't help but agree.
"The closest village should be just about a twenty minute walk into the opposite direction than the one we came from." Casey briefed them up as they came closer to the house. "And it's a none magical village, so it shouldn't be under any protection or watch from the Spanish ministry of Magic, and believe me when I say that they are not very nice people to deal with. And remember not to talk to anyone too much, never give out a real name, and use a fake one if you have to. Don't draw attention to yourselves, walk with your heads down and don't use magic outside the house." He continued.
"Casey, don't worry." Alicia told him.
"I should worry." He said. "If you-know-who finds out about this place he can show up at any second, he might think that these... Muggles might be of any use to him against Harry, and you know that he have a saving people thing." He paused for just a second as he saw the two people standing on the porch of the closest house and waited for them. "And for heaven's sake do NOT say his name." He added.
"I shall remember that." Katie said. They were now turning into the short stone path up to the house.
"It was lucky that Kingsley figured it out in time." Alicia muttered. It was that which had went wrong when they had sent that program of Potterwatch a few months ago, that was how they found out where they were recording it. That was why Kennedy died, because they had said his name.
It was really sad that Kennedy died, but at least now her death couldn't be considered random and worthless.
"Ready to get back to England Hestia?" Casey asked Hestia Jones, who stood on the porch next to Dedalus, waiting for them.
"As ready as someone can be to get back into the midst of a war." She answered.
"Great, we don't have so much time to sit and catch up I promised Kingsley that we'd meet him at noon, which is just about half an hour, so hence the rush." Casey continued.
"Right, let me get my bag and then we'll go." She said and walked inside.
And so they quickly left them. Leaving Alicia and Katie with Dedalus. Before he had left had Casey hugged Alicia and whispered to her to stay safe, to hold on and stay strong. She appreciated the gesture, but if she had chosen to stay strong she wouldn't be alone and here right now.
"So, let's have a little tour shall we?" Dedalus said to the two girls and opened the door for them.
Once they came in they saw that a whole corner of the small sitting room were covered with monitors, must have been over a dozen.
"This is the security cameras we have put out around the premises." He explained. "The one who are at watch will sit here and monitor them, at all time. And this list will tell you where the camera is located." He pointed toward a piece of paper on the table in front of the monitors.
Katie, who had put down her bag on the floor, had approached one of the monitors, which showed a largely obese boy bathe in the pool. "Who's that?" She asked in disgusted voice and pointed toward the screen.
"Oh, that'd be the cousin." Dedalus answered matter-of-factly.
"That's Harry's cousin?" She continued, now looking up at Dedalus in shock. "Looks like a real charming boy." She added sarcastic.
This caused Alicia to giggle a little where she stood; it felt strange to have her lips up in a smile.
"Yes, doesn't he?" Dedalus added, equally sarcastic. "Anyways, there's the kitchen." He pointed toward the just as small kitchen. Everything in this house seemed to be small. "To the left are both of yours bedroom, you have to share bathroom though. Mine is to the right."
"Right." Katie said and took up her bag again. "Do we have to be in any contact with the... Harry Potter Family?" She asked in a lack of words.
"No you don't have to be in contact with the Dursley's." Dedalus assured them. "They know that they are not to leave the premises, we have a charm on the face so that no one can leave or enter without us knowing it, and we also have put up a lot of Dark Magic detectors. The house cannot be seen by any none magical folk, the house is nevertheless registered under a fake name, in case a magical person is trying to figure out who lives here. Food will be provided by someone going to the village and buying it, we have a supplier, by that will also be fixed by me. So you have no need to worry about that."
"How are we going to about watching the monitors? How many hour watch?" Alicia asked.
"Good question, I haven't really thought about it, Hestia and I had six hours..." He answered.
"Six hours sounds good." Alicia interrupted him. "Now, if you don't have anything else to add, I'd like to go and unpack." And with that she walked to the left and into one of the bedrooms.
"Is she alright?" Dedalus asked Katie who was quite as puzzled over Alicia's behaviour.
"I don't know." Katie answered.
A/N; I know that I said that I'd probably never update this story again, but I got a very nice review from someone who called her-/himself "Friend" and it sort of gave me motivation to finish this chapter, But I don't know how long it'll take for me to update this story.
Please leave a review and vote on the poll on my profile.
