Chapter 40

"Oh I forget to give you this earlier." O'Callaghan said after they three of them shared lunch. He pulled out a long box of the side pocket of his robes and handed it to Alicia.

It was a wooden box made with intricately engraved wood, she opened the box carefully and inside nestled on a soft pillow of velvet was a wand. It looked like several pieces of wood of various shades intricately twisted together. She reached out and gently touched the wand and smiled at the beauty of it.

"Juniper wood, 7 inches. This wand will assist you in warding off evil spirits and give you the powers of strength, protection, healing and health. Pick it up" O'Callaghan told her.

"It's beautiful" Alicia said as she picked up the wand and held it in her hand, she felt as if she had found something she had been looking for, for a very long time. She laughed as she gripped the wand at the base and pointed it at the vase of half dead flowers at the side of the room. The air around flowers sparkled with sparks of white light as the flowers lifted and revitalised back to being fresh.

"That felt amazing" Alicia said a smile of pure pleasure crossing her lips. After so many years of not using magic, she now had the power to and it felt like she had just reclaimed a piece of herself again.

"Of course it does, told you I'd make you a wand perfect for you" O'Callaghan said in a chuffed manner. Alicia placed the wand back into it's box and got up from her chair and hugged O'Callaghan and then kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you" she told him, she released him and found O'Callaghan was blushing. He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.

"It's all in a days work" he mumbled, Alicia turned to her Grandfather who welcomed her with open arms. She went to him and he lifted her off the ground and twirled her around as they both laughed and smiled.

"I can now work on getting my magic back completely" Alicia said after Cillian released her.

"That you can" he said with a warm smile.

The following day,

Alicia was in the kitchen checking the beef stew when Warrington stumbled into the house. Alicia placed the stew back into the oven and closed the door before she looked over to the doorway. She watched as he struggled to kick his muddy boots off at the door and smiled. It wasn't everyday Warrington was messy drunk, hell she had never seen him drunk so she was definitely going to enjoy it. Even if the smell of stale booze and sweat lingered unappealingly in the air.

"Hey" she called out. Warrington turned and looked at her with a smile.

"Hi" he said, she returned the smile and watched him continue to struggle with his boots.

"You ok there?" she asked with amusement.

"Fine" he grumbled as he couldn't decipher his shoelaces. He had been gone for over 24 hours without kissing Alicia and now he was being thwarted by shoes he laced while sober. Life could be a real bitch... he thought.

"Need help?" she asked trying not to laugh.

"No, once I figure out the working of my shoe laces I'll be fine" he said as he bent over to reach the laces of his second boot. Alicia watched wide eyed as her husband swayed precariously to one side and the other but still managing to stay upright. "I can hear you laughing" he grumbled as he tugged on the shoe lace. Alicia wasn't laughing out loud but even he would be laughing at this point.

"Only on the inside" She told him in an amused tone as she walked towards him and leaned against the door frame with arms folded.

"You'll pay for that once I get this boot off" he told her.

"Uhuh, maybe you should use your magic" Alicia said. Warrington straightened up and considered her suggestion before shaking his head.

"Nope never use magic while drunk. It never ends well" He told her before going back to his laces.

"Ok, well when you figure out the riddle of your laces, please feel free to have a shower" Alicia said tongue in cheek.

"You saying I smell?" he asked as he finally pulled on the right lace, the knot came free and boot came off with ease. Now he just had to stand upright without falling on his ass. He was truly getting to old to be drinking so much alcohol and travelling by floo home did not help his equilibrium.

"Yeah, you smell like a bottle of fire whisky left to out to spoil. I'd offer you a sober up potion but we don't have any" she told him. He slowly moved towards her and she slowly stepped back as her stomach turned in an unpleasant manner.

"Yes, that is a shame" he admitted as he would have liked to skip out on the hangover but then he should have sobered up before coming home. It was funny how alcohol made a person forget the obvious things. "So want to join me in a shower?" he asked a smile spreading across his lips at the thought.

"Afraid you'll drown?" She asked sarcastically as she kept backing away from him. He shook his head in amusement as he felt like they were playing a bit of a dance.

"No, I missed my wife" he said as he slowly circled her around the table.

"Well your wife will vomit on you if you come any closer" she told him as she picked up a dish towel and started to whirl it between her hands preparing it so she could snap it at him.

"That's not a nice way to greet your husband" he told her.

"Well maybe you should go shower and brush your teeth, gargle some mouth wash"

"But I want to kiss you" he told her.

"Kiss me after your shower, I have a stew that needs tending and I'll heat up some food for you to eat"

"Fine, but for the record I also wanted to take you in the shower. Up against the wall"

"Well you got a hand and now some material to get you going"

"You are a tease"

"And if you ever want to get laid in the future you're going to stop drinking alcohol altogether" She told him as she snapped the towel just missing his arm. Warrington chuckled as she retwirled the towel and held his hands up in surrender.

"Ok, I'm going" he said.

Three weeks later,

Alicia stood in the middle of busy shopping avenue completely lost. The shops around her bespoke of products similar to ones sold in Diagon alley but their labels and the shop names were all in foreign language she didn't recognise. The people in the streets milled and chatter away but none of it was in a language Alicia could comprehend, she had been about to stop someone when she saw Clara walk right past her.

"Clara" Alicia called she raced after Clara as the woman snaked through the crowd with ease. Alicia followed her and called out again but Clara did not turn her head or even acknowledge that she heard Alicia. Alicia watched as Clara walked into a book store, due to the crowd it took Alicia a few more seconds to reach the shop.

She reached the shop front and opened the door but when she stepped through she found herself in an entirely different place. She stopped short as she nearly ran into a wall. Gone were the street noises and bustling people, the bookshop all of it was replaced. She heard a soft yet eerie tune being hummed and slowly turned taking in the new surroundings. It was a circular room with worn stone walls, a tiny window up high on one of the walls gave incredibly poor lighting to the place. But there on kneeling on the floor in a straightjacket and chains was Clara. She looked filthy with her skin scuffed with dirt and her hair stringy and greasy. The room shook as an explosions sounded in the distance and dust feel from the high ceiling.

"Clara" Alicia said, the woman kept humming the eerie tune as if Alicia hadn't spoken as if there was nothing going on. She didn't even flinch to the sounds of explosions outside. So Alicia said her name louder "Clara!" she then tried to shake Clara only for her hands to go through Clara. Alicia pulled back and looked at her hands and then at Clara but before she could think a small popping sound emitted from behind her and a second later someone walked through her.

Alicia stepped back with eyes wide as she watched O'Callaghan kneel down in front of Clara. He reached out to Clara and touched her face. Clara wrenched her face away from him and continued to hum. She drew her knees up to her chest as if trying to make herself smaller, still not looking directly at him.

"It's ok, I'm here to release you" he told her in an excited manner. He snapped his fingers and the chains snapped and the buckles of the jacket also popped open. "Now come, let's get this off of you" he said, he moved forward and she backed away, tears filled her eyes as she shrinked into herself further.

"I do not have time for this" O'Callaghan said frustrated, he pulled out his wand and murmured some incomprehensible word. Clara's eyes glazed over as the curse took control of her body.

O'Callaghan stood up and Clara mimicked his movements as he pretended to shirk off the straight jacket. The jacket fell to the floor in a heap. Alicia watched on as O'Callaghan did a little twirl and a curtsey having a giggle as Clara mirrored him but before he could continue Cillian apparated into the room.

"Stop prancin-"

Alicia snapped out of the weird dream with a start as she heard the sound of glass breaking downstairs. She turned to Warrington who woken to the noise as it sounded like someone was stumbling around downstairs.

"Stay here and lock the door after me" Warrington told her, he pulled the covers off his legs and picked up his wand from the bedside table. She watched as he left the room and closed the door behind him. After which it took her a couple seconds to realise that she needed to lock the door. She picked up her wand and moved to the door.

She felt apprehension as she had been slowly practising magic with Cillian and Maura when she visited but her spellwork tended to either do nothing or completely destroy whatever she was trying to do. It seemed the revival of the plant had just been a fluke of magic as there wasn't any middle ground but before she could try at locking the door she heard Warrington call out.

"It's Montague" he shouted which was just as good as saying 'all clear' as it was the second time in weeks he had come into their home unannounced.

Warrington looked at Montague, the man was truly a mess. He didn't even think Clara and Montague were that close for Montague to be so torn up about her death. Three weeks of dealing with Montague's drunken stupidity Warrington was finally at the end of his rope. He knew he should have more patience but the lond Floo travel between London and home in combination with Alicia's weird sleep talking and pregnancy antics gave him little patience to spare for his friend especially since Montague purposefully drinking himself to punish himself or maybe death and while at first Warrington tolerated it and helped him out from time to time with Flint's help.

Warrington like Alicia prefered to keep their home a safe harbour. They hadn't told any if their friends it's location only Cillian, Maura and O'Callaghan knew it's location and could bypass the wards. Montague was the only one in their group of friends with access just in case Alicia needed medical attention or couldn't make it to the pub for her prenatal check. So for him to pop up at 2am unannounced was the last straw.

"I'll pay for the vase" Montague slurred, his voice raw and raspy a unfortunate side effect from drinking too much fire whisky besides profoundly reeking of the whisky in question. Warrington helped his friend move to the dining table and made him sit down on the bench at the long table.

"Yes, you will. What's going on?" Warrington asked, he wanted to be upstairs in bed with his wife and his hand on her curved stomach in anticipation of feeling that first kick but no he was sitting next to his drunk friend hoping the man would not stay or worse vomit on his expensive rug.

"What do you mean?" Montague asked as he leaned back like it were business as usual for him to crash through the fireplace at 2am in the morning.

"Last week I had to bail you out of Gaol again. This week you come here unannounced at 2am-" Warrington started but Montague interrupted him.

"The Gaol thing wasn't my fault-"

"I'm not going to argue with you mate but I think you need help" Warrington said in a serious manner.

"Excuse me?" Montague asked looking insulted.

"The drinking, it's taking a whole other level and I'm worried about you" Warrington said while silently adding …and tired of cleaning up after you. Montague reared his head back in disbelief and looked at him like he had grown a second head.

"Are you interventioning me? If you are then you are bloody awful at it" Montague told him.

"No, if it was intervention I'd invite more people and have a banner" Warrington said dryly, though the idea definitely had merit not that it would work on Montague.

"Great a party, speaking of where's the whisky?" Montague asked, he started to get up but Warrington pushed him back down shaking his head.

"There isn't any" he told him.

"Scotch?" Montague asked misinterpreting what Warrington was saying. He was aching for a drink as he hadn't had one in over four hours. He had hoped coming to Ireland he could talk with Warrington or maybe just reclaim some part of their friendship as he had felt Warrington start to pull away from him.

"There isn't a single drop of alcohol in this house" Warrington said slowly so Montague could comprehend him.

"Unless you count Vanilla essence but I wouldn't recommend it" Alicia said as she stood at the doorway to the main living area looking pale. She wore long wide leg yoga pants with foldover waistband and the singlet top. He smiled at the generous curve of her abdomen, their unborn child finally making his or her presence known. What he wouldn't give to be back in bed with her rubbing his hand over that stomach to feel their baby kick. It hadn't happened yet but he knew it would be soon. Alicia had told him she had felt movement which always made him feel a little jealous as he wanted to a part of everything regarding their child.

"Spinnet, looking voluptuous as always" Montague slurred. Alicia kept at the doorway as the stench of Montague kept her from venturing further into the room.

"Montague, what did I tell you about coming near me when you're drunk or hungover again?" Alicia asked in a clipped manner from the doorway.

"That you'll vomit on my expensive shoes?" he offered with a roll of his eyes.

"Really? You said that?" Warrington asked his wife, amused by her and a little concerned that she might hold up her threat as she gave a firm nod. He knew the smell of alcohol turned her stomach, along with the smell of wild flowers, roses, fish, tomatoes that were stewed and his personal favourite bugs. Not the cooked kind but the au natural ones that roamed around outside. He had no idea that insects smelt let alone that a person could smell them but apparently Alicia could and he knew better than to argue with her. Pregnancy had made her an extremely odd person at times but amusing none the less.

"Well, why don't you let me handle this and you go back to bed?" Warrington suggested to her as he left Montague at the table to go to his wife.

"I agree, I quite like these shoes" Montague said the couple looked over at him to see Montague admiring his wingtip shoes before they went back to their conversation.

"I'm hungry" Alicia said to Warrington in a low voice. Warrington rubbed her arms in a comforting manner and smiled warmly.

"I'll make you something and bring it up to you" Warrington told her.

"Anything I want?" She asked her tone hopeful.

"Yes, anything you want as long as you go back to bed." He said, she made a face as she didn't like it when he bribed her. "You name it and I will make it" Warrington promised her.

"Figs and lime, yogurt, honey with chia seeds?" Alicia asked after a moment of pondering.

"Done, I'll be up in a few minutes with your meal" Warrington said,

"Don't be too long" she told him as she tugged playfully on the drawstring of his pyjama pants.

"I won't" Warrington assured her.

"Make sure he showers and air the kitchen" She added.

"Of course" Warrington said trying not to laugh. They shared a brief kiss before she returned upstairs. Warrington gave a sigh of relief and turned to the kitchen to start making Alicia's snack.

"You're so whipped" Montague drawled as he swung his legs under the table so he could watch Warrington work in the kitchen and maintain the conversation.

"You are a drunk who is getting on my last nerve" Warrington told him as he cut up the figs.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to crash in on the love nest" Montague said in a mocking manner.

"Yes, you did and you're lucky Cillian isn't here otherwise he'd boot your ass out the door." Warrington said pointing a knife at him.

"Isn't that what you're going to do?" Montague asked.

"No, I'm going to give you a room to sleep in and in the morning you and I are going to talk because this is not acceptable behaviour and visiting hours. We gave you access to this house for emergency reasons not for you to come and go like a motel" Warrington told him.

"I'm not your practise child" Montague said narrowing his eyes, as drunk as he was even he knew when he was being lectured to like a misbehaving child and he did not appreciate it.

"Fine, you want to talk about it now?" Warrington asked him.

"Sure, why not?" Montague said before he chuckled.

"Ok, then yes you're right" Warrington began and Montague gave him a smug smile but it wouldn't be long before Warrington wiped it off him. "You're not my child so I'd appreciate it if you acted like an adult and my friend. Get your shit together. I know Clara is dead but it doesn't give you an excuse to become a wastrel and let's get something straight. I'm changing the access to the floo grill here, if you want you can crash at my London townhouse but you're no longer welcome here unannounced and drunk. I also will no longer spend every second or third day bailing you from Gaol. And if you show up hungover for your next visit with Alicia for her prenatal review I will inform medical licensing board" Warrington said in a serious tone as he held the honey bottle over the bowl of yogurt.

"You threatening me?" Montague sneered.

"I threaten because I'm tired of watching you drown yourself in booze and your 'woo is me' attitude. I want my friend back, the one I could occasionally enjoy a good glass of whisky with. So I suggest you dry out and get help because you only have 7 days" Warrington said darkly. The two eyed each other for a moment before Montague started to laugh.

"This isn't funny" Warrington told him as squeezed some honey in a swirl pattern on the yogurt.

"You're holding a bear shaped honey container threatening to ruin my life. It's pretty funny" Montague said. Warrington looked down at the honey container, a smile curving his lips as he could only imagine the contradictions of it all. Montague sobered from his laughter and looked down at the table.

"Whatever, you know where the guest bedrooms are" Warrington told Montague.

"Yeah" Montague said.

"Good, take a long hot shower and get some sleep. Alicia is going tear you a new one over breakfast" Warrington told him.

"Gee, I can't wait" Montague said dryly as he watched Warrington leave the room with Alicia's yogurt.

Later that morning,

Alicia crept to the door way holding the bucket of frigid water mixed with soothing blend of lime and vanilla essential oils. She had come down earlier to return the bowl but the overwhelming stench that was Montague halted her progress. She went back upstairs to find Warrington still asleep, so she read for a while but soon her stomach rumbled with hunger and since she didn't have the heart to wake Warrington, she decided it was time she took matters into her own hands and use a little magic to improve the situation.

So here she watching Montague's sleeping form at the table. He had his head in his arms, resting quietly, she set the bucket quietly on the floor and pulled out her wand. She carefully levitated the bucket of water off the floor and across the room until it was hovering over Montague's head. She bit her bottom lip as it took a lot of concentration to not drop the bucket or to laugh. When Warrington spoke in her ear startling her completely.

"What are you doing?" Warrington asked, Alicia jumped in surprise and her concentration slipped so quickly that the bucket upturned itself and frigid water landed on Montague followed by the bucket.

Montague yelped in surprised from the cold water and then groaned in pain as the bucket smacked him in the head. He looked around outraged at being rudely woken to see Warrington and Alicia at the doorway. Warrington wore an amused smile as Alicia burst out laughing.

"What the hell?!" Montague grouched.

"Don't look at me" Warrington said as tried not to laugh but couldn't help it as Montague looked like a drowned rat. Montague glared at Alicia as he rubbed his head. She calmed down from her initial fit of laughter and gave a shrug.

"You smell horrible" She informed Montague.

"Well now I smell like tropical destination?" Montague said as he sniffed his clothing, making a face of displeasure. He had a hangover the size of America and his friend's pregnant wife was dousing him with frigid flowery smelling water.

"I read that it's very soothing" Alicia said as she waved her wand at him. Montague felt his skin starting to tingle all over his body and little sparkling dust mites peeled away from his skin and clothing.

"Soothing my ar-What the hell are you doing to me woman?" Montague demanded as the sensations all over his body were pleasant but very disconcerting.

"It's a body cleansing spell for difficult children. I read about it in a parenting book this morning" Alicia informed him with a smug smile.

"I highly doubt it says to douse your child with freezing water then use magic on them" Montague grumbled as he pulled out his own wand trying to counteract the spell but failing miserably.

"No, the frigid water is payback for waking me up and being drunk in my home and stinking it up when I expressly told you not to do so" Alicia told him, she stopped the cleansing spell and blasted Montague with air drying not only the man but the table and floor sending the bucket flying.

"Warrington! control your woman!" Montague said as he held his hands up to protect his face. Alicia gave a wave of her wand and ceased her magic to take in the clean scent of the air and the faint but lovely aroma of Lime and Vanilla in the air.

"And risk a lifetime without sex? I don't think so" Warrington said with a chuckle as he came into the room. He picked the bucket off the floor which had landed by the wall thanks to Alicia's spell and then moved into the kitchen stashing the bucket out of the way.

"If you wanted sympathy with your tea then you should have stayed in England" Alicia told Montague as she took a seat at the table opposite him. The little stint of magic had drained a good amount of her energy.

"Callous Irish wench" Montague grumbled.

"You were warned and I was in no mood to vomit" Alicia said as she took a deep cleansing breath enjoying the fresh scent of the kitchen living area before she moved into the kitchen and started to help Warrington with Breakfast by pulling out all the things they would need.

"I'd rather you not vomit" Warrington said as he kissed Alicia's cheek.

"You two are disgusting" he told them as he retook his seat at the table.

"We're married and one you'll meet a man who'll make your heart go all a flutter-" Alicia started but Montague cut her off.

"Woman, Spinnet. I'm not into men and where is the coffee?" Montague asked.

"Down the road at O'Loughlin's pub. We only serve tea" Alicia told him.

"Better be good tea" Montague said as his head was pounding.

"Montague, you're an asshole when you're hungover" Alicia told him.

"You should see him drunk" Warrington said to her.

"What is it? pick on Montague day?" Montague asked in an exasperated manner.

"I had vision of Waffles" O'Callaghan said apparating into the room right behind Montague. Montague turned around and found himself face level with O'Callaghan's weathered family jewels then snapped back to looking at Alicia and Warrington with an incredulous look.

"Omg god, old man put on some clothes!" Montague said as he moved further up bench away from O'Callaghan who was completely naked.

"O'Callaghan we spoke about this, no popping in" Alicia said in a chastising manner.

"Especially naked" Warrington added. Montague wondered if he was still drunk as he felt like he had slipped into a twilight zone. An old naked man was standing in their living area and his friend and wife didn't even batt an eyelash.

"What don't like a vision of the future boys?" O'Callahan said smiling as he started shaking his hips making Montague and Warrington cringe and look away. Alicia too had to look away but only because she was laughing so hard. O'Callaghan laughed with her before he snapped his fingers and robes appeared on his body before he took a seat.

"Thank you" Warrington said grateful that O'Callaghan was now dressed.

"So you're the drunken Healer" O'Callaghan said as he shuffled close to Montague giving the man a sniff and touching Montague's fluffy hair much to Montague's annoyance.

"I'm a friend" Montague corrected as he moved away from O'Callaghan only for the old man to shuffle closer.

"but you're a drunk. You need to dry out, I can help you with old muggle trick" he told Montague. Alicia placed a couple pots of tea and with Warrington started to set up the table.

"Not interested in whatever snake oil your selling mate" Montague said.

"Your sister would be very disappointed in you" O'Callaghan told him.

"What would you know about her?" Montague asked.

"Knew her better than you and I know she is alive" he said.

"O'Callaghan, don't start that again" Alicia said from the kitchen, she had been dreaming of Clara for the past three weeks. She was starting to think the old man put some kind of curse on her or planted a suggestion in her head as everytime they met up all they talked about was Clara.

"I saw her rise from the ashes" O'Callaghan said

"My sister is dead" Montague said.

"No she's not. I show you" O'Callaghan said.

"I thought it wasn't for us to see" Cillian said strolling into the room catching what he hoped was the end of the conversation.

"Not you or the others but him, he needs to see it so he can stop being stupid" O'Callaghan said to Cillian.

"I'm not stupid" Montague said.

"Why do you smell of like a tropical whore coming off a bad saturday night shift" O'Callaghan asked, Alicia and Warrington burst out laughing at the comment.

"Hey stop-" Montague stopped as O'Callaghan grabbed his hand and then after a few moments O'Callaghan broke the link between them and Montague jumped up from the table and ran to the kitchen sink where he threw up making everyone in the room groan.

O'Callaghan waved a hand and the windows opened while Alicia removed herself from the kitchen area into Cillian's waiting arms as he was the furthest away from Montague and stench of sick and alcohol.

Warrington grimaced as he patted Montague on the back. "I guess it's lucky we hadn't actually started making anything" he said, he turned on the water to wash away the sick and was grateful the sink had been clean before Montague painted it. Montague gave him the one finger salute for his comment before he continued to wretch.

"We're still having waffles right?" O'Callaghan asked with a smile.

"I'm hoping so, will he stop yaking soon?" Cillian asked gesturing to Montague.

"Yes, once he stops thinking about booze" O'Callaghan said.

"So you didn't show him the vision?" Cillian asked.

"No, it's not a vision to share. I instead gave him a head start to sobriety" The old man said whilst Montague continued to be ill in the sink.

"And you couldn't wait until after we had breakfast?" Alicia asked him.

"How about some sympathy for me?" Montague rasped.

"I'm too hungry to give you anything but a bucket and floo powder home" Alicia said tartly.

"Merlin, you sounded so Irish just then how does Warrington live with you?" Montague asked with disdain before he heaved again. Warrington smiled apologetically to Alicia who was shooting daggers at Montague with her eyes.

"You been having more dreams" O'Callaghan getting Alicia's attention.

"I'm not talking about my dreams with you until I've had a decent breakfast and the rate Montague's going that will never happen" Alicia snapped in a grouchy manner.

"Fine" O'Callaghan said, he snapped his fingers and Montague gave a sigh of relief. "Don't get too comfortable boy. It's only temporary, after I hear about Clara we'll be drying you out" O'Callaghan told him.

"I hate Ireland" Montague said under his breath.

TBC- Thank you FanofSlytherns7711 and for your reviews! I love happy monologue reviews as they let me know I haven't completely derailed the story :-).. So please keep enjoying and Cya all soon with more!