Chapter 41
"We're still having waffles right?" O'Callaghan asked impatiently as it looked like breakfast would be a while. Warrington had helped Montague to the dining table giving his friend a bucket just in case he felt the urge to be sick again before moving to his wife's side.
"I'll cook 'em" Cillian said as he moved into the kitchen to start cooking. He was too hungry to wait for the kitchen to 'air' out.
"O'Callaghan, you can't just come by and demand food or magically take our breakfast. It's rude" Alicia said to him as she moved to an open window trying to tame her nausea.
"You're rude since you've become possessed but I forgive you as your baby has no concept of manners" O'Callaghan said to Alicia.
"I'm not possessed by my baby" Alicia snapped.
"Let's not start that argument again" Warrington said playing the peacemaker as he gave Alicia's shoulders a gentle squeeze. He kissed the base of her neck and felt her relax against him.
"Yes, it's rather annoying and I'd rather hear about your dreams but before I forget you need to ready two bedrooms one with another crib" O'Callaghan said as he poured himself a cup of tea.
"Why?" Warrington asked, they hadn't even put up a crib for their own child in the house yet. His mother had done majority of the work but left the nursery for Alicia and Warrington to do together. Something they had been remiss about as he had been busy with work and too tired most days to be bothered. Alicia of course had some ideas but like him she too was suffering fatigue and the upheavals of her pregnancy that they kept pushing off the nursery in lieu of quality time spent relaxing together in their home.
"Your friend is coming to you, the one with blonde hair" O'Callaghan said pointing to Alicia.
"Katie?" Alicia said in slight disbelief as she knew Katie didn't have any need for a crib.
"And when exactly is she showing up?" Warrington asked as he like Alicia had a hard time believing Katie would come to them to stay with a baby in tow as the woman was a full time Quidditch player and everyone knew pregnancy and having a family was a career killer for Quidditch players.
"I had a vision, it's not like they are time stamped" O'Callaghan grouched.
"Another vision, you have to stop" Cillian said from the kitchen.
"Hey, I didn't get so many visions til you moved nearby" O'Callaghan complained.
"They are over 30 km from where you live" Cillian said sceptical of how the Old man would even be receptive to visions of Alicia's friends.
"Close enough and anyway the way you all look at me it's like you think I just pull this stuff outta my arse for my own amusement" O'Callaghan asked, the room went silent for a moment as it was a thought they all had had at some point. But before they could answer him Montague looked up from the bucket in his lap looking confused..
"I'm Bell's physician and I can tell you. Bell has never had kids neither is she pregna-" Montague stopped mid word and turned green for a moment. They all waited and nothing happened much to everyone's relief. "that was a close one" he said with a sigh of relief.
"Katie has a younger sister who's 4 years old and another on the way." Alicia said, the others looked at her oddly "Her father remarried after the war and started having more kids." Alicia said, as if would somehow help in the deciphering of yet another of Callaghan's cryptic visions.
"A man after my own-" Montague stopped again and looked like he was going to be sick but at the last moment didn't "What did you do to me old man?" Montague demanded.
"You didn't have a vision of Clara?" Alicia asked Montague as she had assumed he was violently ill from what O'Callaghan showed him.
"I didn't show him anything. He's too stupid to do anything right" O'Callaghan said waving a dismissive hand at Montague.
"Hey!" Montague said defensively as Cillian chuckled and the others tried not to show their amusement.
"Instead I gave him some help. Would you like a glass of whiskey?" O'Callaghan asked Montague, just the word Whiskey made Montague turn green and shake his head emphatically. O'Callaghan chuckled much to Montague's displeasure.
"Good boy, now if you can handle the simple concept of being of sober and staying so then the sickness will pass" O'Callaghan said with a smug smile. Montague's jaw dropped.
"You put a curse on me!?" he said in a disbelief and incredulous manner.
"Just a tiny charm" O'Callaghan stopped as the others looked at him as if he were wrong "Ok, yes I guess you would perceive it as a curse but once you get over the thirst and negative connotations your brain has placed with alcohol your ability to enjoy a smooth whickey or ale will return" he told Montague with a casual shrug. Montague who had turned green at the mention of alcohol glared at the old man angrily.
"Take it off me" Montague demanded.
"I do this because of your sister" O'Callaghan said.
"My sister is dead thus she won't care, now unwhammy me from your Irish voodoo" Montague said darkly. O'Callaghan looked at Montague like he were a petulant child, his expression serious as he looked the man over and dismissed his demand.
"No" he simply said. "Don't bother arguing with him boy. He's too old to change his ways" Cillian said. Before Montague say another word an owl swooped to the kitchen window with a letter in its beak.
"It's for you" Cillian said, Warrington released Alicia from his arms and she took the letter from him.
"Thanks, it's from Katie" Alicia said recognising the writing, she opened the letter and perused it for a moment.
"Everything ok?" Warrington asked as Alicia's face gave no indication of what was in the letter.
"Yeah, says everything is fine and she has to reschedule our tea for next week due to her quidditch training hours" Alicia said with a shrug as she paraphrased the letter. She placed it on the bench and she along with the others looked to O'Callaghan as if to say 'so much for your vision'. The old man glared at them and threw his hands up in the air.
"Did I not say my vision wasn't time stamped? and anyway it's not like all my visions see fruition.. well except for Clara's. She's going to come back and you have to help her come back" O'Callaghan said glaring at Alicia more than the others.
"Me?" Alicia asked in annoyance as O'Callaghan was getting on her last nerve about Clara. Alicia had strange dreams but she did not feel any connection to the woman that could help her make contact as O'Callaghan believed she could.
"Ok, enough craziness for one morning. Breakfast is nearly ready. Why don't we get all sit down and be civil?" Cillian asked.
"That would be lovely... is Montague could hold his stomach" Alicia grumbled as she had no desire to sit at the table with Montague looking so ill.
"O'Callaghan, I'm sure he's learned his lesson for now give the boy a reprieve. I'd like to eat without seeing wasted booze" Cillian said as he plated up the food.
An hour later,
"So your dreams?" O'Callagan asked as they all finished their breakfast. Montague had eaten very little but sat at the table none the less and suffered through the breakfast looking pale and drawn. Alicia knew she should have sympathy for him but just couldn't muster it as she felt his newfound inability to drink alcohol would be good for him and in some small way was payback for all the times he teased her.
"You were in them" Alicia said to O'Callaghan as she helped Warrington clear the table. She really didn't want to have the conversation with Montague in the room. Clara was his sister but she knew of the rift in their relationship and if she was talking about Clara's past she didn't want Montague hear it as she for some reason felt it was wrong and in some respect not even his right.
"I was? was I doing something naughty?" O'Callaghan asked with a grin.
"I think I'm going to be sick again" Montague groaned holding his bucket close like it was going to be his friend forever.
"Stop thinking about alcohol" Cillian told Montague before he rose from the table to help Alicia and Warrington with the clean up.
"Take your Irish Voodoo off me" Montague said to O'Callaghan.
"Or what?" the old man asked Montague in a defiant and childish manner.
"Hey act like adults" Cillian told the two men as he could see the conversation and level of maturity dissolving quickly. He motioned for Alicia to sit down and relax.
"So Old Man was in your dreams. What did you see?" Montague asked Alicia who retook her seat at the table.
"None of your business" Alicia said to him, Montague made a face at her refusal to share.
"The dreams" O'Callaghan prompted.
"I don't want to talk about it right now" Alicia told him.
"Was I in your dreams?" Montague asked in mocking manner, Alicia rolled her eyes.
"No, but your sister was and I don-" Alicia started or at least wanted to explain that she was not going to talk about it in front of Montague when O'Callaghan cut her off.
"Was my little phoenix in them? Did she speak to you?" O'Callaghan asked being incredibly stubborn in not dropping the conversation.
"It wasn't like that. It was like I was in a pensieve well. You know observing the memory and not an active member in the scene" Alicia said reluctantly.
"Interesting, what happened?" O'Callaghan asked.
"I don't want to talk about it in front of Montague" Alicia said shifting uncomfortably in her chair.
"She's my sister" Montague said in such a way like he was entitled to know just as Alicia expected him to.
"A sister you didn't talk to for over a decade! I know what happened between you two and what I'm talking about is private. So frankly I don't feel comfortable discussing it with you in the room" Alicia snapped at him. Montague opened his mouth to argue when Warrington spoke first.
"I think it's time I took you home" Warrington said to Montague.
"No, I want to hear about my sister and these 'dreams' your wife is having that are so vitally important" Montague said scathingly as he looked to Alicia. The two glared at one another until Cillian came up behind Montague and grasped the man's collar lifting him from his chair.
"Go home boy, you not entitled to know anything about your sister's life nor is it your right to know either. So stop being a child and clean up your life and come back when you're respectable" Cillian said as he 'assisted' Montague to the fire place.
"Unhand me" Montague snapped.
"Oh aye, it just burns to not have everyone bend to your will but you are just a speck of dust on a very large map. Time you grew up and lost your oversized self importance" Cillian told him as he released Montague and shoved him unceremoniously into the fire place. Montague disappeared through a flash of green flames.
Alicia couldn't help but feel a sense of relief now that Montague had gone away. She couldn't handle his rampant mood changes and the annoying part was that she was pregnant, she was the one who was supposed to be emotionally erratic.
"Lucky that fireplace is connected to the london townhouse" Warrington commented dryly as Cillian looked rather proud of himself.
"You should of done that last night" Cillian told him.
"I shall endeavour do so next time" Warrington said he leaned down to Alicia, "I'll be back later this afternoon. Is there anything you'd like to get while I'm out?" Warrington asked her.
"No, I'm good" Alicia said though she wished to asked him to make O'Callaghan go away and take her back to bed but it wasn't going to happen.
"Ok, I'll see you later" Warrington said before he gave her a brief kiss goodbye. Alicia watched him leave through the fireplace before she turned her attention back to O'Callaghan and Cillian.
"So the dreams, they are becoming more clear?" O'Callaghan asked.
"No, just weirder" Alicia said, she then launched into great detail of her dreams of the past week and considering that Charlie Weasley, Cillian and O'Callaghan were in those dreams she didn't have any qualms in retelling them.
She watched as Cillian and O'Callaghan listened to her, there was no inkling that they thought she was crazy. No, they were quiet and contemplative. When she finished she leaned back and looked at them. She had admit that scared her more than them thinking she were insane.
"So?" she asked.
"They are definitely memories. Not too sure about the ones with Charlie or her with the others. She worked for the Order, so she had many dealings that I didn't bear witness to" Cillian said.
"The more I think about, I think I remember the man. Like I've seen him before but I can't remember where" Alicia said frowning, it was something she had been mulling over since they all sat down for breakfast. When she had the dream the man seemed unfamiliar but doubt niggled her as she wasn't sure anymore of what memories were Clara's and what were hers especially in the regards of the dream.
"Well I remember the dream, it was real.. It was the time when she was held by-" O'Callaghan stopped as he wracked his brain for a name.
"Rousseau, he was one of the higher tier dark wizards in Voldermort's ranks. He was supposed to bring followers from France into the war for Voldermort but failed due to a pre-emptive strike from the Order of the Phoenix" Cillian said with a shrug as he picked up his cup of tea to have a sip.
"Yes, I remember the mischief we had that night" O'Callaghan said mischievously, a reminscent smile on his face as if it had been a birthday party with all his favourite guests and food.
"You two are apart of the order?" Alicia asked as she could not imagine either of them being in the order or following someone else's orders.
"More like allies, our interests only lay with what concerns Ireland" Cillian said confirming Alicia's thoughts.
"Then what were you doing in France?" She asked them, she only retained vague recollections of Clara's life which made it hard for her to piece everything she dreamed together as she didn't know every finite detail or Clara's thoughts at the time.
"Clara was-" Cillian started only for O'Callaghan to cut him off.
"is" O'Callaghan said correcting Cillian's tenses.
"Important, and at the point she was a crucial player in the war." Cillian said. Alicia frowned as she had never heard of Clara when people spoke about the war but decided it was best to play along as Cillian and O'Callaghan obviously knew better than she did.
"I know" Alicia frowning for a moment. She brushed a hand over her forehead as it was all becoming a headache for her "I just tired of this dreams and want this to be over. Clara is dea-" She started only to be cut off by O'Callaghan.
"Clara is alive and she is sending you a message. The memories are all about her time on the continent We need Charlie here perhaps he can shed light on what Clara is showing you" O'Callaghan said.
"Why can't she just come back in physical form. Tell us in person what the hell is going on and not haunt my sleep?" Alicia asked O'Callaghan.
"I don't know, but maybe you should ask her next time you dream" he said. Alicia looked to Cillian.
"Grandfather" She pleaded hoping he could give her a solution to her problem.
"Maybe a sleepless draught would be the go but it's not good for the bab-" Cillian said only to be cut off as O'Callaghan spoke over him.
"No, we need to know what Clara is telling us. It may be vital information that could save someone's life" O'Callaghan said adamantly.
"Maybe you should find a way of reaching Clara yourself because I would like to have a peaceful night's rest" Alicia snapped at him. It was so easy for O'Callaghan to tell her what to do but it she who was suffering for his obsession with Clara.
"I found nothing, this situation is unique" O'Callaghan said not being helpful at all, Alicia dropped her head into her hands and groaned.
"Great, I just can't have a normal life now can I?" Alicia bemoaned.
"I knew you were special from the first time I held you as a baby" Cillian said, she could just hear him smiling.
"Not helping me" she grumbled.
"I've been thinking that Clara's alive but perhaps she is not in our physical plane of existence" O'Callaghan said, Cillian looked at him as he knew his granddaughter had reached her limit for talking about Clara for the time being.
"Leave it be old man" Cillian said.
"In my vision she reintergarted herself in the-"
"Bill Weasley" Alicia said as she had listened to many of O'Callaghan's rants and was tired of Bill be referred to as the Half Wolf when O'Callaghan knew his name.
"His house and she was injured. Perhaps she apparated in the delirium of her pain to escape and forgot her destination mid appara-"
"She would have splinched" Cillian argued as O'Callaghan finally had a new theory that wasn't completely out of the realm of reality.
"Or she's suspended mid apparation, her physical being would not be in our plane of existence" O'Callaghan said. But then Cillian felt he could be wrong even Alicia thought it was crazy as she lifted her head up and looked at O'Callaghan as if he had finally lost his mind.
"Do you just sit around all day thinking this stuff up?" Alicia asked him incredulously.
"No, I only just thought of it" O'Callaghan said oblivious to the current undertone of the room.
"Well then you can think of a way of reintergrating her back to our plane so I can sleep peacefully?" Alicia asked mockingly.
"If I knew how to I would. Merlin knows she's better company than you right now" O'Callaghan remarked darkly.
"O'Callaghan, I can't be a pensieve well for this woman. Yes, she saved my life but I have my own stuff to deal with, I don't want her memories blending with mine. I don't want to be so mixed up I don't know who I am" Alicia said.
"It won't happen" O'Callaghan assured her but he could see the doubt in Alicia's eyes.
"It happened with Clara, it's why she stays away from people she has possessed" Cillian said to the old man.
"Well then maybe you should figure out what she's trying to tell you and then it won't happen" O'Callaghan told Alicia.
"Merlin you are frustrating!" Alicia exasperated, she threw up her hands in frustrastion and shook her head.
"Hey, not everything can be fix with the snap of your fingers" O'Callaghan told her not appreciating her insolence.
"Ok let's simmer down. I'll write Charlie and get him to come to us and figure this out. If we can, maybe the dreams will stop and if not then we've tried something" Cillian said playing peace maker between the two.