Chapter 42
A few days later,
"I'm so sorry we had to push back tea. Quidditch training is hectic as the season is starting soon" Katie said as she came up to Alicia who was seated at a table in O'Loughlin's. The tea and food was already on the table ready. Alicia felt momentarily jealous of Katie's trim figure as the woman wore black skinny jeans, a white v-neck t-shirt coupled with a leather jacket. She only felt the pang of jealousy as Alicia's wardrobe had become limited to dresses since none of pants she owned fit her anymore. She rose from her chair and the two exchange a hug in greeting before they sat down.
"No worries, I hope you don't mind that I ordered for us" Alicia said as she settled into her chair. Katie waved a dismissive hand.
"Not at all" she said with a smile.
"So is the training going well?" Alicia asked as Katie's team had been training in Southern Ireland for an upcoming game. It was nice to have Katie closer to her in Ireland for a change. She hadn't even known Katie was in Ireland until she sent a missive a day ago.
"I think it will be my best season yet. Reckon you'll be able to catch a game this season?" Katie asked as she looked over the table to look at Alicia's figure. 18 weeks pregnant and Alicia already felt like she was hiding half a quaffle under her dress. It didn't seem fair as the pictures in her pregnancy book claimed most pregnancy didn't show for a while.
"Depends on when and where the game is" Alicia said though as much as she liked watching a game of quidditch, she wasn't too excited about the climb up into the stands but then she needed to show Katie some support in her career.
"Well funny you should say that but there is going to be a game here in Ireland, two months time. I think everyone's going to make it" Katie said with a hopeful smile. She knew her family weren't going to make it as her step mother was currently in her last trimester of pregnancy but the twins, Lee, Oliver and Angelina were going to be there. If she could wrangle Alicia, then after the game they could all hang out it would almost feel like old times. As they all hadn't been able to meet up for drinks for a long time.
"I'll be 26 weeks and apparently 'huge' according to Montague's professional opinion" Alicia said before she took a bite of her scone. The flavour of the jam and cream hit all the right buttons in her brain making her pleasantly happy.
"You should really get a new healer. What happened to Dr Kessell?" Katie asked as she poured the tea.
"She was fine, I just felt like a huge meat puzzle to her. It didn't make me feel very comfortable" Alicia said making a face. The truth was that she wasn't comfortable being around her because she was a stranger. At least Montague she knew and Warrington trusted him, it was enough and the added bonus was that he couldn't touch her without getting burned. So it made their appointment times feel more like the comedy channel than the discovery channel where Montague would be David Attenborough and her the pregnant whale being studied.
"I think I'd prefer meat puzzle to a recovering drunk. You know the team was going to sack him but since he cleaned up it has been forgotten, at least for now" Katie said with roll of her eyes. She hated the special consideration Montague got, he should of been fired or put on bereavement leave for a sister no one knew he had but instead the bosses said nothing. It seemed unfair to her even if Montague was grieving but at least he was finally getting help or so she assumed as the last time she saw him he was sober and miserable.
"Well O'Callaghan worked some kind of mojo on him. He can't seem to stomach alcohol at all not even a red wine reduction" Alicia said with a amused smile as Montague's misery did bring her some amusement.
"Now that sucks" Katie said surprised by the information but secretly relishing the fact that he was being punished in some respect.
"Yeah poor man" Alicia said sarcastically.
"So how are you? and the hybrid?" Katie teased, Alicia frowned at her.
"You have to stop calling my baby a hybrid" Alicia said as she unconsciously rubbed her slightly rounded abdomen in a soothing manner.
"Ok, let me rephrase. How is the baby?" Katie asked her.
"He or she is doing well and so am I. Though I can't say the same for my wardrobe. I need to get new clothes" Alicia said with a sigh,
"Jeans are too small?" Katie asked an amused smile crossing her lips.
"Yeah I just wished I looked more pregnant than fat" Alicia said to her.
"Trust me, you look pregnant. If you were fat then we'd be having an entirely different conversation" Katie assured her.
"Oh thank you" Alicia said mockingly.
"You're welcome and anyway for all your pouting I know you're happy about being pregnant and hiding away in Ireland" Katie said, she couldn't help but feel incredibly happy at how Alicia's life was going. It had taken awhile for Katie to realise Alicia was truly happy with her life but now it felt good to not worry about Alicia as she used to.
"I'm not hiding, I'm resting and it helps to be away from London" Alicia said smiling at Katie, as they both knew Alicia hated making the Daily Prophet's radar and because of the kidnapping Alicia still felt nervous about being away from Ireland where she felt safe.
"Well you come to the Quidditch game then you'll be able to catch up with Fred, George, Lee, Oliver and Angelina" Katie said, Alicia took a deep breath and looked at her friend. It wasn't the first time she had subtly suggested Alicia make up with Angelina.
"Are you ever going to stop with trying to patch things up with me and Ange?" Alicia asked.
"Nope and anyway it's way past time you two made up. At least consider doing it for me" Katie pleaded. "We were our own trio before Yoko Ono came in and ruined it"
"Who's Yoko Ono?" Alicia asked.
"You're half muggle, shame on you" Katie said shaking her head in mock disappointment. "Yoko Ono was blamed for breaking up the Beatles.. who are a famous muggle band"
"Oh I know the Beatles" Alicia said before she took a sip of her tea, she knew the music but not the personal history of the band but either way Katie rolled her eyes like she was attempting to pull teeth out.
"Yeah well you're John Lennon and Warrington is Yoko Ono" Katie said.
"I'm sure he'll love being a Japanese woman" Alicia said with a chuckle.
"I feel you're missing the point" Katie told her.
"You started with a muggle reference" Alicia reminded her.
"Focus before I start taking O'Callaghan's side that the baby has control of you" Katie said looking aggravated, Alicia frowned as she didn't appreciate her child being teased or blamed for her behaviour.
"Fine, I'm focussed. Anyway Angelina is the one who-" Alicia wanted to argue that it wasn't she who had started the disagreement when Katie cut her off.
"I don't care who started it. I want my two best friends to get back to being friends again" Katie told her.
"You don't know what she said" Alicia said, she didn't want Katie in the middle of Angelina's problem with her.
"I'm sure she said some stupid things but enough time has passed, you know water under the bridge and all that" Katie said in vain but Alicia shook her head.
"Katie, I can't. I'll be civil to her but Angelina was very clear on her opinion about me" Alicia said to her. She gave Katie a sympathetic smile.
"Fine, but I'm not going to stop" Katie told her.
"Well everyone has to have a cause to rally behind in life" Alicia said sarcastically before she changed the topic of conversation to something else as she didn't want to argue with Katie any further on the subject.
The next day day,
"This is all a little crazy" Charlie said after Alicia reluctantly told him all bout her weird Clara dreams. Cillian had prewarned him about what they would be discussing but even so, it felt like he had crossed from what was normal into some crazy twilight zone. But then that was pretty standard with O'Callaghan in the room.
"You think?" Alicia asked dryly, he gave a wry smile as he could tell buy her disposition that she was at her wits end and it wasn't her pregnancy that was bothering her. Though the smell of freshly poured beer was not helping her constitution as her stomach rolled with nausea. Sitting up to the bar hadn't been the best idea but then she hadn't gotten a good night's sleep last night. She dreamed about the man Rousseau again but it was different and when she passed reflective surfaces in the room her appearance was blurred. Rousseau's face, his brute strength all seemed incredibly familiar to her but once again she had no idea if it was something she remembered or Clara's memories bleeding through.
"Don't pay any heed to her mood, the baby is controlling her" O'Callaghan said before he took a sip of his beer. Alicia shot a dark look at O'Callaghan as she didn't appreciate his comment. They sat on the corner of the rectangle bar with Charlie seated on the corner with O'Callaghan on his right and Alicia on his left with Cillian standing behind the bar polishing glassware to keep his hands busy.
"Okay" Charlie said slowly, as he was trying to not upset anyone. He knew O'Callaghan was temperamental and he'd been around a pregnant woman to know it was safer to bend to her every whim than not to.
"Top up?" Cillian asked Charlie, Cillian was the only one who seemed even tempered in the group to Charlie and the free beer didn't hurt.
"Yes, please" Charlie said as he pushed his half empty glass of beer towards Cillian. The man lifted the glass and topped it up with more beer from the tap before placing it back in front of Charlie.
"So, do you remember any of what I told you about?" Alicia asked shifting uncomfortably in her seat as her stomach rolled. It was taking a mighty effort to not give into the urge to vomit. She looked at the tea her grandfather had made for her but felt no desire to drink it.
"Yeah, parts of it. You know those times were pretty messed up. But the intel we got to release Clara came from Rousseau's wife. She didn't give it up freely which was why Clara had to use her mojo on her." Charlie said, Alicia knew he was refering to the Teneo curse that Clara had used on her.
"Hence why she wasn't in her right mind when O'Callaghan and I picked her up" Cillian said.
"They had to make the wife disappear for her own safety. She was an innocent bystander... I use the term 'innocent' loosely of course" Charlie said before taking a draw of his beer. "Rousseau sadly evaded capture and never stood trial for his crimes. No one heard from him again, I highly doubt he would wait five years to come back to get his revenge" Charlie said, most of the Death eaters who had disappeared after Voldermort's defeat had either been found again or remained hidden from the law.
"Sometimes it's more about having the means to reach your target or knowledge about where your target is" Alicia said grimly before looking to Charlie. "So what happened to his wife? Is she still around?" Alicia asked.
"I don't know" Charlie said.
"Charlie?" Cillian asked in a tone that said he wanted the truth. Charlie held his hands up in surrender.
"I swear I don't know and frankly I didn't want to know. Back in those days the less you knew the less valuable you were" Charlie said defensively.
"It's not always true" Alicia said quietly as it hadn't been the case with her. Charlie took a sip of his beer cursing his insensitivity. He had forgotten all about Alicia's internment in the Malfoy dungeons during the war. Cillian reached across the bar and grasped Alicia's hand in his giving it a gentle squeeze, it seemed to bring Alicia out of momentary slip into the blues. The young woman gave a tight smile.
"Yeah well I'm talking for a man not a woman" he said awkwardly. "Anyway Clara was involved in the woman's new identity and relocation" Charlie said to keep the conversation going.
"You have her memories" O'Callaghan said rather snappish as he looked at Alicia.
"Clara helped me remove majority of her memories from my mind after I returned home. These dreams aren't memories I've seen before. I was hoping they were meaningless garbage but apparently they are memories" Alicia told him in an annoyed tone.
"Only because you refuse to acknowledge the truth" O'Callaghan told her.
"Clara is not in suspended in mid apparation sending me visions. That's insanity" Alicia said exasperated by the familiar argument.
"Like anything this past year or so in your life has been sane? You married an Englishman" O'Callaghan scoffed in a slightly disgusted tone. Charlie wished he wasn't sitting between the two as he felt the air crackle around him and the anger roll off of Alicia.
"Hey! I'm an Englishman!" Charlie said in mock defence hoping to diffuse the situation.
"Exactly, you Englishmen are about as useful as having an asshole on a person's elbow." O'Callaghan grumbled as he was tired of no one giving him the respect he felt he deserved.
"Don't take it too hard Charlie. He only has Montague and Alicia's husband as a form of reference to judge all Englishmen. I think you're a good egg" Cillian said in a joking manner taking Charlie's tact.
"My husband is a good man" Alicia said defending her husband.
"Cooking and keeping house is women's work" O'Callaghan scoffed rolling his eyes.
"Watch it old man, I'm reaching my limit with you today" Alicia warned O'Callaghan in a cold tone.
"Well, how about I informally look into Rousseau and ask about his ex-wife with some of the senior members of the Order. Though I honestly hope Clara is alive as I don't need her estate or the responsibilities she's given me" Charlie told them.
"It's a lot to take on" Cillian said in agreement as he referred to Clara's estate.
"Yeah, I'm not real big on responsibility" Charlie said making a face.
"Everyone has to grow up eventually" Cillian said with a smile.
"I don't plan to anytime soon, I hear it's better to be young of heart" Warrington said from behind Alicia announcing his arrival, Alicia turned in her chair and smiled as Warrington wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
"Hey" he whispered in her ear before he kissed her neck.
"We're talking about Clara and her never ending saga of dramas" Alicia said bringing him up to speed, the sent of his skin and the heat of his body abated the nausea rolling inside her from the smell of alcohol.
"Yes, I would prefer my wife dream about me than a woman" Warrington teased, Cillian and Charlie smiled at the joke.
"Better than another man" Alicia said teasing him back.
"I would still prefer you to be dreaming about me or not at all" Warrington said to her before he released her and took the stool beside her.
"So how's business?" Charlie asked Warrington who declined a drink offer from Cillian.
"It's going well" Warrington said as he picked up Alicia's cold, untouched tea and took a sip. He couldn't help but lean forward in his chair and take Alicia's hand in his, pleasure washed through him as she interlaced their fingers as if they had been doing it for years.
"We appreciate the influx of funding for the dragon reserves" Charlie told him with a smile before he took a sip of his beer.
"Your boss tell you to say that?" Warrington asked with an amused expression.
"No but he'd kick me if I didn't" Charlie told him, Warrington chuckled.
"I can appreciate that" Warrington said.
"Anyway, I best be off. I need to drop off at the burrow" Charlie said as he placed his beer down and stood up.
"Let me walk you out, I have a few words to share with you for your half wolf brother" O'Callaghan said to him.
"You know it's kind of rude to call him that" Charlie told him O'Callaghan waved a dismissive hand and rolled his eyes before the two walked away.
"Ready to go home?" Warrington asked Alicia as he assumed the meeting had come to an end.
"Yes" Alicia told him. She looked to her Grandfather. "We'll see you for breakfast tomorrow?" Alicia asked.
"I'll be there" Cillian assured her with a warm smile.
"Good, until then stay out of mischief" Alicia said as they met halfway across the bar to kiss each other on the cheek goodbye.
"Aye, and you get some sleep" He told her.
TBC- Cya all soon :-)