Chapter 32

"Allow me" Warrington said as he turned back to Alicia after turning on the shower. Alicia dropped the blanket and turned to her side giving him access to the zipper on the dress. He unzipped the side and helped her out of her dress and underwear. The calming draught had Alicia in a daze. He was not sure a shower was such a great idea as Alicia looked ready to fall asleep but she was adamant that she wanted a shower.

"You know I can take a shower without you supervising me" Alicia told him in a despondent tone. Warrington gave a nod, he didn't want to push her as she was in an incredibly delicate state.

"I'll leave the bathroom door open. If you need me, just call out" Warrington said.

"I will" Alicia told him, she watched as he reluctantly left the room. Alicia turned to the shower and stepped into the stall. She moved under the stream of hot water and closed her eyes. She placed her hands on the tiles in front of her bracing herself as memories flooded through her. She tried to push the memories away as some were horrifying but some made her curious as some were of her Grandfather, Bill Weasley and his brother Charlie. She didn't know Charlie all that well. It made her wondered how Clara had become associated with them but the memories were a mess as were the emotions attached to them.

Warrington leaned against the wall outside the bathroom listening, waiting for Alicia to call out for him or to finish her shower. He mulled over the evening's events, how and why Clara was indebted to Cillian. What had Alicia endured before they arrived, his main concern was for her as he had wanted to save her but had been utterly useless. Now was his chance to make up for his earlier lack of herioism. He would take care of her, at least he knew he could excell at that. He would excell at it as he could not bear the sight of Alicia being so broken.

A couple of hours later,

"Well, that was a waste of time" Cillian said after he apparated himself and Clara to the front stoop of Warrington's townhouse. He was practically holding the woman up as they slowly walked up the front steps. She had gone above and beyond for him, something he would not forget. In a way he felt he now owed her.

"You'll have to return to Ireland immediately, I think Mr Potter will have told Kingsley you're here" Clara said in a sluggish manner, her body ached, her voice was raw. All she wanted was a hot shower and a long sleep but she still had to report in that Alicia had been recovered and give her account of events minus all of the less than legal methods she had used to help recover Alicia.

"You think?" Cillian asked in a wry manner.

"Yeah he's the 'chosen' one. He wouldn't want that marred with bad behaviour" Clara said in a mocking manner.

"You going to be alright?" Cillian asked, she knew he wasn't referring to her physical state but her actual job. But she decided to be obtuse with her answer as she wasn't sure what was going to happen to her. Like any of it matter now. It was too late to change the past.

"Yes, I'll be fine after I need to empty my head, your granddaughter will need to do the same. Then we'll talk about what the story will be. I'd prefer to keep my job" Clara said, it was the only thing she had left in her life to keep her going without it she was idle and she couldn't afford such a luxury.

"Aye and if they kick you to the curb you can come work for me. I also have a list of people you should check out. It's in relation to Antonin Dolohov" Cillian said as he knocked on the front door. Clara didn't get to reply to his comment before the door opened and Maura looked at them with a mixture of concern and relief.

"Oh dear me, come on in." Maura said, as she stepped out of the way. "I have a guest room made up for you Clara" she said. Clara gave the woman a grateful smile. Maura was one of the few people who showed her kindness, something that was a rare commodity in the world.

"Thank you Mrs Warrington but it won't be necessary. I won't be staying, what I need is to speak with Miss Spinnet. Is the Pensieve and vials set up?" Clara asked as they went into the house. Maura closed the door behind them and raised the wards.

"Yes in the master bedroom, I'm afraid Alicia has been quite disturbed from the experience" Maura said.

"She will recover." Clara said pragmatically, if she could recover from it then in her mind anyone else could.

"Yes, she will and it is thanks to you two. I'll go up ahead and let Cassius know you're here" Maura said.

Warrington closed the bedroom door after speaking with his mother. Clara and Cillian were back. Maura had also told him to wake up Alicia as Clara needed to talk with her privately. He moved back to the bed and crawled over to Alicia's sleeping form, she was curled up like a ball as if trying to protect herself by becoming smaller.

"Alicia, you need to wake up" Warrington said gently, he kissed her temple. After her shower, Alicia had been so out of it; he had dressed her into one of pyjama shirts, then given her food and then laid her down in bed. She had fallen asleep quickly and the draught had worn off, he knew because her sleep had become fitful and tears streamed down her face. He had laid down beside her and held her close to his body, vainly hoping his presence would soothe her as it has in the past with her nightmares. It had helped a little but enough to assuage his despair over being a helpful comfort.

He laid down behind her back and turned on his side so he could look at her. She looked anything but restful, he leaned over and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Alicia, come on. I know you're awake" he murmured in a comforting manner. He watched as she frowned and slowly opened her eyes to look at him.

"Mmm why?" Alicia asked, she gave a groan as she unfurled her body and moved into his arms. She buried her face in his neck and welcomed the warmth and strength of his body against hers as she felt incredibly weak and needed it. It didn't help that she had a headache, she felt dehydrated and sick like she had fitful sleep and cried for hours. She just wanted it all the grief and confusion to subside.

"You need to talk with Clara, I promise after you can sleep as long as you like." Warrington said.

"Can't it wait?" Alicia asked, desperation tainted her voice. Warrington pulled away from her and cupped her face so they were at eye level with one another.

"No, I'm afraid not" he told her, tears filled Alicia's eyes and Warrington shook his head. "Hey, it will be ok. Clara will be able to help you." he said, he leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her lips he would have pressed for more but found Alicia didn't respond well to their intimacy. He knew she was comfortable when he held her but when it came to mare he could feel her withdrawing from him. It didn't help that she looked guilty about it either.

"I'm sorry, I feel horrible" Alicia confessed and she was not speaking just her physical condition but also her emotional state. She lifted a hand to her face and covered her eyes. How could she explain her predicament without sounding like a madwoman. She wanted to feel lost in him but felt a sense of betrayal from her own emotions and then it begged the question of if they were her emotions or Clara's.

"As in sick? I can get Montague" Warrington said deeply concerned.

"No, I just can't stop crying and I just feel-"

"Horrible" he finished, he pulled her into his arms and held her. "It's going to be ok. You're alive, the baby is alive" he said before placing a gentle kiss on top of her head.

"Would you still want me if I wasn't pregnant? If I lost the baby?" Alicia asked, Warrington pulled back from their embraced and looked her in the eyes.

"Of course, I would still want you. My love for you is unconditional." He told her firmly.

Warrington heard a soft knock at the door, he gave Alicia a quick kiss and disentangled himself from her body and went to the door. He opened it to find Clara alone. She looked drained, her eyes had dark circles under them and she leaned on the door frame for support.

"Warrington" Clara said in greeting to him.

"Please Clara, come in" he said, he stepped forward to offer her assistance but backed away as Clara shot him a dark look. As if he want to help her was an insult to her. Alicia sat up in bed and watched as Clara slowly walked into the room. Alicia looked at Clara like she were a ghost, her eyes wide and confused.

"Alicia, this is-" Warrington started but Clara placed a hand on his arm that made him stop.

"There's no need for a formal introduction. We are already intimately acquainted" Clara said with a warm smile at Alicia.

"I'll leave you two" Warrington said.

"Thank you" Clara said, Alicia watched as Warrington left the room closing the door behind him. She moved to one of the armchairs in the room and sat down with the sigh of bone deep exhaustion.

"You were the voice in my head, you took control of my body" Alicia said, she got out of the bed and moved to the arm chair opposite Clara's. It had been moved to that position and in the middle was a table with a large silver dish with three trays that had empty vials.

"Yes, it's dark magic. I took possession of your mind and body. I apologise for the invasion but it was necessary. The side effect is that we have an open house on lives with one another. It was not exactly pain-free on either side. Know that your grandfather and your fiancé were desperate to find you" Clara said implorong Alicia to forgive her.

"I felt like my head was ripped open" Alicia said dully. Clara gave her an understanding smile.

"I know, I had to separate from you quickly. It was necessary to save you but the end result is that I left some of my memories behind and tore some your memories out of you. So, Maura has kindly brought us a pensieve and some vials." Clara said gesturing to the contents on the table between them.

"Ok" Alicia said not sure of what Clara was getting at.

"I know it's incredibly upsetting and confusing but once we have siphoned all of my memories from your head. You'll feel a sense of levity, you will vaguely remember my memories but in time they will fade and disappear as your mind will deem them irrelevant" Clara told her.

"I saw and felt your whole life like it were my own" Alicia said.

"And I had the same experience. We are now in each other's secret keepers" Clara said, she ran a hand through her messy hair and gave a sigh. Alicia was jealous of how together the woman appeared even with her excessive fatigue.

"Who creates that kind of curse?" Alicia asked. She would of asked how Clara managed to stay sane with Alicia's memories running in her head but Alicia already knew the answer. Clara had performed the curse before, she knew what to expect and how to cope.

"It is an undesirable side effect of the curse, it's why it was never used but it was recorded. But it has it does have it's benefits, it enable us to save you" Clara said.

"For which I am grateful for. So these memories-" Alicia started to ask but Clara cut her off.

"Once they are siphoned there will be what I call 'echoes'. You need to understand that you can never completely remove a memory. Well, that's a lie. You can have your memories obliviated but you tend to lose more than what you desired to forget. But with a pensieve you're able to remove most of the undesired memory without losing yourself. I'm sorry I'm not very good at explaining this" Clara said, she winced seeing Alicia's blank look.

"And not relevant" Clara added.

"I'd rather have them obliviated" Alicia said tears running down her face. Clara understood her completely as they both carried painful pasts and dark emotions as a result. The depression, the guilt and the grief were like heavy weights on their minds. Clara was only able to handle it slightly better as she knew once the memories were siphoned out then she would feel that burden of emotions lessen. Alicia however had no concept of what was happening and was completely lost.

"When you are oblivated the memories are locked away in your mind. The only way to ever retrieve them is through extremely painful methods and like I said you may forget more than just the undesired memories. You could forget Warrington, happy moments of your life. Trust me, extracting the memories and storing them with a pensieve is a much healthier solution. It will give you time to sort through your emotions and then when you are ready you can review your memories with a greater clarity. So do you have your wand yet?" Clara asked, Alicia shook her head as she remembered that this woman was only asking her out of habit as she fully knew Alicia didn't have a wand.

"It's ok, you can use my wand" Clara said, she pulled out her wand and offered to Alicia.

"I haven't practised magic in over four years and it's your wand, I could damage it or you" Alicia said.

"It's stronger than it appears" Clara said as she passed her wand over to Alicia.

"I don't know what to do" Alicia said as she took the wand, it was an old wand as it was a gnarled stick with an intricately designed handle not anything like the rods that wand-makers produced. She looked to Clara for direction.

"Focus on a memory that you know isn't yours. Just one memory-" Clara continued to describe the process which equated to Alicia imagining a lasso extend from the wand tip through her temple roping the memory "-then slowly drag it out and then place it in the vial and that's how it's done" Clara told her.

"How do I know what is my memory and what is yours?"

"Anything that is in pure Gaelic or Portugese is mine. They will be easily to pull out. Then anything where you see my face in what should be your reflection. We will review each memory after we've both rested properly. If you or I make a mistake, it can be quickly resolved. For now we have to empty your mind before your mind twists the memories and you start to believe they are yours. Ok?" Clara said.

"Yes" Alicia said before she took a deep breath fortifying herself.

"How is she?" Maura asked Warrington. He had joined her in the Kitchen after leaving Clara and Alicia. He sat down at the dining table next to her while Cillian sat at the head of the table and Montague opposite them. It had been a long night he had no desire to repeat.

"Confused, deeply upset. She was crying in her sleep and when I woke her-" Warrington started but was cut off by Cillian.

"Don't be too concerned, she'll be fine once she clears out Clara's memories" Cillian said before he took a sip of his tea. Warrington poured himself a cup of tea before picking up a side plate placing a scone on it. Warrington felt annoyance at Cillian casual manner, he knew it was just a facade but it didn't stop Warrington from being perturbed.

"What the hell was that curse?" Warrington asked, his tone sharp. He couldn't help it as he hadn't slept and his concern for Alicia ran deep.

"It a possessive curse-" Cillian started but Warrington cut him off.

"No, what did it do to them? They both came out completely messed up" Warrington said.

"It merged their minds and memories. They shared every moment of their lives-" Cillian started again only for Warrington to cut him off.

"But-"

"Dear Merlin will you let me finish my bloody sentence" Cillian snapped. Warrington sat back his hands up in mock surrender.

"Go ahead" Warrington said.

"No,I can't be bothered now" Cillian said in a petulant manner. He took a sip of his tea.

"Cillian, he needs to understand" Maura told him in a calm and controlled manner. She was the only one who had managed to remain composed out of them all. It was rather comforting that someone kept their head.

"Fine, it's a possessive curse. Clara merged her mind with Alicia's and overtook her body as the controlling entity. A side effect of the curse is that they share every moment of their lives with one another. Every memory, every emotion, every thought was shared. You can see why it's an undesirable curse to perform with your enemies" Cillian said.

"So is that why Alicia has become disturb? It's because of Clara's memories?" Warrington asked.

"Perhaps, I've only experienced the curse once. It's odd, you can become lost in your memories and your possessor's memories." Cilian said in a reminscent manner.

"Is that what happened when you revived Clara?" Warrington asked.

"Boy aren't you two full of questions?" Cillian drawled sarcastically, Warrington realised he had put the old man in a bad mood as he was now being referred to as 'boy'.

"Cillian" Maura said in a chastising manner.

"Can't a man finish his tea in peace?" Cillian grouched.

"Not in this house" Montague said sardonically it earned him a dark look from all the occupants at the table. Cillian gave a sigh and placed his cup of tea back on the table and looked to Warrington in a serious manner.

"Clara had to disconnect from Alicia quickly. She didn't do it as cleanly and as a result it was more traumatic or so I guess" Cillian offered.

"So Clara and Alicia know everything there is to know about one anothe?r" Warrington asked for clarification.

"Yes, for better or worse but once the memories are siphoned out it will help" Maura assured her son, she placed a hand on his upper arm and gave it a gentle squeeze but Warrington found no comfort in it.

"So who were you possessed by?" Warrington asked Cillian.

"None of your business Boy" Cillian grumbled.

"Please tell me we're done" Alicia said as she wiped the tears from her face, on the table sat numerous vials filled with thoughts, emotions and memories that she vaguely deciphered to not be hers. She placed Clara's wand on the table, exhausted and sick from the past hour of reliving nearly every memory in her head.

"I don't know what I left inside your head. So you tell me is there anything left in there that doesn't belong?" Clara asked, the woman had been incredibly patient and understanding as she helped Alicia mull through her mind. Alicia had known she was not the only one in the world with a painful past but she couldn't believe how Clara had survived hers.

"I'm not sure" Alicia admitted.

"Well how do you feel?" Clara asked her.

"Better than I was before but I still-" Alicia was about to say that she still remembered every part of Clara's life the only difference was now there was a distance between Alicia's mind and the memories like it was a movie she had watched. The strong emotions were still present just not as present as they were an hour ago.

"The emotions and the raw edge will fade in a few hours and like I said before if there is any memories we missed they should be good memories and if not just borrow Cassius's wand. I'm sure he won't mind. Your control over your magic is quite impressive" Clara remarked with a smile that said she approved.

"Thank you, I think" Alicia said as she pulled her knees upto her chest and hugged them.

"Look once you've rested it'll be easier for you to decipher what are your happy memories and what are mine. For now you really need to rest, it's been a long night" Clara said as she stole a look at the clock.

"Ok, and what about my memories in you?" Alicia asked.

"I'll empty them out, you should know I have some of your darker memories. I think you should work with Lady Warrington, there is a way of removing the darker tones from one's memories. But I would not recommend it until after your child is at least 12 months old" Clara advised her.

"Why?" Alicia asked.

"You deserve to enjoy this next phase of your life without those memories pressing on you and you'll need the sleep. Kids are exhausting but the best kind of exhaustion and never doubt yourself. You will be a wonderful mother" Clara told her. Alicia smiled, feeling the warmth that had been missing before she siphoned the memories out return.

"Thank you" Alicia said, somehow it meant a lot coming from Clara. She guessed it was that the women she barely met in the real world but knew all of her darkest hours made her appreciate the reassurance. "Thank you for everything" Alicia added.

"You're most welcome, I'm just glad we could save you in time. Now, I will leave you to rest" Clara said as she rose from her chair.

"Clara?"

"Yes?"

"I don't know when I will see you again but you should stop running and go to him" Alicia said, Clara's breath hitched as Alicia's words had shaken her.

"I should leave you to your rest" Clara told her and left the room. Alicia bit her bottom lip wondering if she had said the right thing but she felt it had to be said. Clara had saved her and Alicia had decided that she was indebt to the woman for the risks she took. They knew each other's lives intimately and as such Alicia decided once she was recovered she would befriend the woman and help her in any way she could. But right now she needed to rest and as such she was no use to anyone. She dropped her head to her knees and gave an exhausted sigh.

TBC- Thank you for the lovely reviews Sabrina Weasley and Etoile Black! and Cya all in the nearish future