Ch 3 The Escape

More changes due to Deb and Diane. Of course Cleo would have to escape.

Albus Potter found Cleo's clothes, picked them up, and wondered what she had in the pockets of her skirt. Well, it was always a little surprising how much stuff she carried in those pockets. He shrunk the clothes and put them in a pocket of his trousers.

Expecto Patronum!" then, "Lead me to Cleopatra!" Albus mounted his Firebolt, and Frerin and Dis followed on James Firebolt. Albus urged his broom to go as fast as it could, but he could not fly at maximum speed and keep the Patronus visible. Eventually he discovered that he needed to follow the Patronus for about five minutes, then fly as fast as he could for another fifteen, and then allow the Patronus to adjust their course.

They flew for hours. It took less than two hours for them to be above Cleo and the merpeople. The brooms could go way faster than the merpeople could swim. Albus received his father's Patronus. He tried every hour or two to contact Cleo, always with some success, but the message was always the same. "Not yet. Not yet. Merlin I'm tired and cold, and I hear you, but not yet."

Saturday night they were still flying. Albus could create a little water to drink, but he was hungry and tired. He and the two Elves traded off sleeping, one guiding both brooms while the other two tried to get a little sleep, waking up every four hours to make sure they were still on course.

By the middle of Sunday Albus though he could not be more exhausted. He finally received a message from Cleo, "Soon." So Albus flew as close to the top of the ocean as he felt he could, getting soaked and even colder in the process.

"NOW!" came the message. Cleo flew up out of the ocean, changing back to herself in mid-flight. Albus caught her, but a couple of merpeople were holding on to her legs. The Elves flew their broom at the merpeople, who fell back into the ocean.

"FLEE!" Albus yelled, as two Magi came out of the waves, chasing them on brooms. Albus flew as fast as he could, climbing, waving back and forth dodging spells, and the Elves did the same. It took what felt like forever to lose the pursuing Magi.

Cleo was shivering, and Albus charmed a blanket, then another one, and did his best to do a warming charm. He tried to get into Cleo's mind, but there was nothing there. Albus could feel Cleo slipping away. The ring! If ever someone else needed help it was now, so he put the Resurrection Ring on and twirled it three times, pleading, "Help."

Three Magi appeared, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, and another one. "Albus, we are going to merge your magical cores, your souls, to keep both of you alive. You need to let the Elves steer your broom and put all your energy into keeping your soulmate alive. Take your wand and put it into the wand carrier on Cleo, take the ring and put it in the pocket of the wand carrier, and focus on keeping both of you alive. ."

Albus was not sure who was speaking, although he thought it was Professor Dumbledore. The Dumbledore figure turned to the one Magi Albus did not know. "Merlin, thank you for helping us. Albus, keep praying. You need the help of all the saints in heaven to succeed."

Albus was not sure if one or all three of the Magi were talking to him, but he obeyed. "You are going to have to guide my broom, Frerin, Dis," he told the Elves. "I need to put all my energy into keeping Cleo and myself alive."

The Elves maneuvered the brooms so they could control both of them, and as fast as they could they flew back to Hogwarts.

Harry was snoozing Sunday afternoon when one of the Magi who had been helping him watch Albus and Cleo's names on the large Tapestry woke him. She pointed to the names and symbols. "They are together, but still in mortal danger. Usually when a symbol flashes in and out like that they are close to death, Harry. All I know is that they are alive, and together."

"Do we know where they are?" Harry wondered.

"There is no way to tell," she admitted.

Harry went to the Crystal Ball. Patterns had changed, and it looked more like Albus and Cleo would survive, but it was not at all certain. Harry worried. He would go to Hogwarts, but there was no certainty that they would appear at Hogwarts, and if they did Ginny would be there, and the Matrons. St. Mungo's was only a Floo away.

It was hard to think, and Albus didn't believe he could be so cold.

Cold.

I need to keep Cleo alive.

I need to stay alive.

Cold.

Cold.

Oh, God, help. I'm so cold and tired and Cleo is so weak and … Cold.

Cold.

Cold.

Ginny woke with a start. It was past midnight, but she heard knocking on the door to the porch. A matron opened the door and four wet barely alive souls fell into the room.

Albus and Cleo were clinging to each other. Cleo was naked except for a wand holder across her front. Albus was clothed but his clothes were soaking. The matron cast warming charms on all of them, then stripped Al's clothes off, and put some special undergarments on Albus and Cleo. She was calling for help, and before long several healers in their green robes were rushing in through the Floo that connected directly to St. Mungo's.

Ginny noticed that more healers, Magi and Elf, were taking care of the two Elves, who were a little cogent but also in bad shape.

Ginny listened at the healers talked.

"I cannot wake them up!"

"I cannot believe they are still alive. Their core body temperature is way too cold."

"We have urine from both of them. They are badly dehydrated! Get an IV into both of them, now!"

"I need you to focus on warming them, but not too fast. Watch their heart rates as well. We came close to losing Cleo there for a moment. OK, let me know when you get tired and I will rotate people out."

"I have the oxygen. Their soul symbols are still flashing, but not as urgently. They are flashing together. We will save them both or lose them both."

"I will go and arrange for more help. We will need at least two people for each of them full time for the next several days. Maybe more, because an eight hour shift of this is exhausting."

Ginny watched as one of the older healers strode into the Floo.

Ginny felt for her Magic/Muggle Mobile. She needed to tell Harry, so she dialed his number. (Why did they say 'dial?' Muggle names for things were sure funny. There was nothing round about those little buttons.)

"Harry, Albus and Cleo are here at St. Mungo, no, Hogwarts. The healers from St. Mungo's are here but they are at Hogwarts."

…

"How are they? Really in bad shape. One of the healers said they came close to losing Cleo, and another one said that they will save both of them or lose both of them."

There was a loud crash, and Ginny saw that a wizard had flown right through the glass in the door from the porch to the hospital wing. He had his wand out, and started to say, "Avada …"

Ginny grabbed her wand, dropping the mobile in the process, and yelled, "Expelliarmus." She followed up with every curse she could think of.

The wizard fell to the floor, spurting blood from a cut artery.

"Harry, I'm busy. I will call you back!" Ginny yelled, after picking the mobile up from the floor. She terminated the call.

There were a number of spurts of blood, each weaker than before. Ginny stared at the wizard.

He was trying to kill them.

He was dying. Maybe he was already dead.

The healers are busy. I don't want to lose Albus and Cleo, or one of the Elves, because of this son of a boggart, but he is bleeding to death at my feet.

Ginny repaired the door, then slumped down onto a bench, and looked at the wizard. She thought she was going to throw up.

One of the healers spotted the wizard lying on the floor, and looked at Ginny. Ginny shook her head 'no' and the healer went back to whatever she was doing.

Good and evil was not supposed to be this hard to figure out! The healers working on Albus, Cleo, Frerin and Dis were still all busy.

Eventually several additional healers came through the Floo. One of them went over to the wizard lying on the floor, shook his head, and let the others know, "This one has been dead a few minutes. I think he has lost too much blood to revive him."

The rest of the healers went to tend Albus and the rest, but the one stayed, and looked at Ginny.

"He was trying to say the killing curse when I cursed him," Ginny admitted. "He was already bleeding, and everyone else was busy. I didn't know what to do, and I didn't want to lose any other lives." Ginny gave the healer a pleading look.

"I can defend your decision," the healer nodded. "It is called triage, save who you can save, let die the ones who are going to die no matter what you do, and treat less serious injuries after you have saved as many as you can."

Ginny thought that it was good to hear a healer agree with what she had done, or not done, but she didn't feel good about it.

Ginny's phone beeped. There was a text message from Harry saying, "Please call! What happened?"

Ginny redialed Harry's number.

"We had a problem here. A wizard, I think one that that was chasing Al and Cleo, came through a glass door and started trying to use the killing curse. I disarmed him and he bled to death from a cut he received crashing through the door. It's pretty awful.

"Albus and Cleopatra are being treated by an army of healers, and it is, I don't know, I think they have them stabilized but, I just don't know, Harry."

"The Auror department needs to collect the body, Ginny. I will call someone and be there myself as soon as I can. Love you."

Within fifteen minutes two people from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement were there to collect the body. They announced, "Harry says no one should acknowledge that this person was ever here, was captured or killed, or that you even saw him. Harry wants this kept confidential."

Ginny thought she would just as soon forget it, but seeing someone bleed out in front of you was not something she was going to easily forget.

Harry showed up half an hour after the dead wizard had been removed. A senior healer came out and told Harry and Ginny, "They are in very critical condition, but we think they will survive. It just may be a very long recovery, although young Magi have an amazing ability to heal. We will know more in a couple of days."

Harry and Ginny hugged, and then Harry told his wife, "I need to go home, and be at work tomorrow. I need to see if we can find out who this wizard is, and also make sure that word of his arrival at Hogwarts is never known."

Ginny was totally exhausted, and close to tears. "I do not like it, but I understand. I feel I have to be here when the children wake up."

Harry walked slowly down the stairs, and out to the Floo at the Hogsmeade Auror office, looking defeated, although he was more tired that despairing. The next days were not going to be easy.

Ginny was almost in her room in the hospital wing when she heard a commotion at the outside door to the infirmary. She took out her wand and peered out the glass of the door. It was raining hard, a cold rain, and a bedraggled female wearing only a lightweight top was sitting on a broom.

Ginny pulled a couple of the healers over to provide backup, and then cracked the door open. "Throw down your wand!" she yelled. The witch threw down her wand, and fell off the broom. One of the healers caught the broom, that seemed to be headed towards Cleo, and confined it. The other healer pulled the witch into the hospital wing and closed the door.

"We have another one," the healer announced as she waved her wand over the figure that was lying face down on the floor, her bum, all her bottom, exposed. The healer levitated the witch onto a bed, and Ginny heard them give her some potions.

"Call the Aurors," Ginny insisted. "I do not trust her."

Ginny stumbled to her bed, Mitzi her Elf helping. Both of them were exhausted.

Very early Monday morning Harry took the private Floo from the drawing room at Grimmauld Place to his office at the Ministry. Several Elves were notified if anyone except Harry came in through that Floo, so Harry had to warn people that they would be surrounded by Elves unless he had been able to give the Elves plenty of advance notice when he brought someone along. It was about as secure as he could make it.

Harry was tired, but he could seldom sleep when critical things were going on. If possible he would take a nap in the afternoon. There was a bed in his office, and despite some kidding from his staff it was not primarily in there for his and Ginny's occasional … well, she was sexy Ginny Potter.

When Harry arrived his status screen was flashing orange/red, the "do not wake up Harry but he needs to know this right away" signal. The screen informed Harry that a witch had shown up at Hogwarts, almost certainly a companion to the dead wizard, and was being treated in the hospital. It also indicated that the witch was being guarded, and that just like the wizard her existence was being kept secret.

Harry spent an hour at the office trying to make sure everything was in order before heading to Hogwarts.

He walked into the hospital section, and went to the small private room the Matrons had given Ginny to sleep in. Ginny was just getting up. She rubbed sleep out of her eyes. Suddenly Mitzi appeared, grabbing ahold of a sleepy and not very steady Ginny.

"I need a nap," Ginny moaned.

"You just woke up!" Harry exclaimed.

"You know about that other witch?" Ginny wondered.

"Only that she showed up last night."

"I'm hungry, Harry. You are the one telling me that I still have a Weasley stomach."

"I will check on the children, and then we still have time to eat breakfast in the Great Hall, Love," Harry rushed to say as he left the room. Harry checked in with the healers, who told him, "Albus and Cleo are very slowly recovering, but it looks like it will be a long process."

Harry looked in on the DMLE officer guarding the witch that showed up last night, and she told Harry, "Eat breakfast, Mr. Potter. This will wait."

The last of the Hogwarts students were just straggling in as the headmistress arose to speak. "Some of you know that Albus Potter and Cleopatra Smith were missing Saturday and Sunday. It looks like Albus rescued Cleopatra, and they are both in the hospital wing right now. They are not capable of seeing anyone. More information will be released when we can.

Minerva waved her wand, and the head table rearranged itself so next to Minerva there was a place for first Harry, next to him Ginny, and next to Ginny Mitzi.

"Quite a bit of excitement last night," Minerva whispered to Harry once they were seated.

"We will talk about it later," Harry replied.

"The endowments are doing very well, Harry. The Goblins are not totally happy with some of our outside investments, but overall we have done better with them than if we had just let the Goblins invest the funds. It is just that this year we have had to dip into the principal. Twenty-twenty has been a very strange year."

"You worry too much, Minerva," Harry countered. "Hogwarts is in fine financial shape."

"It is my job to worry, Harry, about finances, and about students who keep getting into trouble. All of your children have caused their own set of problems. What kind of trouble is my namesake Minerva going to get into?"

Ginny looked over her husband towards her old teacher. "My mother, who has taught or helped to teach more children that I can count, says Minerva is as smart as they come, and as good a child as well. If she didn't look like a cross between Harry and me Mum says she has to be someone else's child.

"My biggest problem is I have no idea how to raise such a compliant child. I am always worried that Minerva being a good compliant child means she is not smart."

Minerva McGonagall just shook her head. Only Ginny Potter would think that having a good, easy to raise child could be a problem.

James and Lily walked up to see their parents as soon as breakfast was over.

"I do not have any more to tell you, except that Albus is alive and they expect him to recover," Ginny told her children.

"Did they fly back?" James asked, not wanting to ask for his broom, but still anxious about it.

"Ginny, are the brooms back?" Harry wondered.

"They didn't fly back on hockey sticks," Ginny scoffed. "I think we need to have Mr. Hudson look at both brooms, but if yours is in good shape we can get it back to you this week. Your brother almost died, and we are still dealing with the aftermath."

"I will be patient," a visibly ashamed and shaken James muttered. "I'm sorry Mum, I really am more worried about Albus and Cleo."

James hugged his mother, trying to hold back tears. "I'm scared for Albus, Mum. Brooms can be replaced."

Poppy Pomfrey met Harry and Ginny at the entrance to the hospital wing. She waved them into her office.

"They are transferring the witch who showed up here last night late this morning." Poppy looked at a small pile of documents. "We are going to scrub our records so there is no indication that either the wizard or witch ever showed up here. I understand that there will be confidential records at the Ministry, but none here.

"The witch does have some idea of what is wrong with Cleo, including information on spells used on her. Cleo is supposed to be dead, but there is some strong magic working on Cleo and Albus. That witches' information is going to help them heal sooner and without some bad side effects that they could have.

"We relaxed the wards guarding Hogwarts so people on brooms could come in, knowing that Albus and Cleo would probably come back that way, but forgot to reinstitute them until the second of the Magi chasing them showed up. I am glad, because of her help.

"I wish I could tell you when they will wake up. My best guess is a few days, but I have no idea."

"If I want to be here when they wake up I should stay here?" Ginny tried to confirm.

"I would," Poppy agreed. "I think it would be good if you were here."

"I will stay at Potter's New Burrow with Minerva, Ginny," Harry volunteered, "so at least her father is with her at night. Molly can take care of her, but I know Minerva will miss you. She is too young to understand all that is going on, but I know she will miss her mother."

Harry took his leave a short time later.

Rose and Scorpius entered the hospital wing, and spotted Ginny sitting at a table at her computer. They guessed she was working on a Quidditch column. Rose approached her, not quite sure how to start. "Aunt Ginny, will you talk to us, please?"

Ginny smiled a sad and weary smile. "Sit down, both of you."

Rose looked around, and then down at her feet. "The matrons won't tell us much. Just that they, Albus and Cleo, seem to be gradually getting better. It is scary seeing them lying there, with … it is just scary."

"It is very scary, Rose, Scorpius," Ginny nodded in agreement. "We just have to trust that they will get better. I've never much payed any attention to all this religion stuff, but I have been praying.

"How are you doing?"

Rose shrugged. "Going to classes. The usual. It seems too quiet and calm, though."

Scorpius laughed. "There is nothing particularly quiet and calm about Cleopatra."

Everyone smiled in agreement.

Ginny wondered, "Is it a problem for the MELL students that Albus and Cleo are not … are in the hospital wing?"

"Not really," Scorpius thought. "The translation project is mostly run by Gabrielle DuMond. She is brilliant, although a little abrasive. I've written favorable articles about her and the progress of the effort to translate Elfish documents into other languages, which she and her family appreciates.

"The biggest surprise is the Elf Naalyehe ya Sidahi, or Trader. I thought Trader was his name because of bargaining for material possessions, but that is not true. The Elf has been great at negotiation when it comes to some of the more difficult translations. You cannot easily translate words or even concepts from one language to another, and there have been some rather heated arguments about some of the language and issues, and how to approach them. Trader is excellent at talking various sides through the issues, and suggesting the best Elfish translation only after everybody understands why."

"Do you have an example?" Ginny wondered.

"I have a Bible example that may illustrate the point," Scorpius suggested. "Have you heard the word Abba?"

"Isn't that a Muggle music group?" Ginny asked.

"It is that too," Scorpius admitted with a smirk, "but I am thinking how it is used in the Bible. It is very hard to translate, because it means something like daddy or father, but it implies a love and familiarity that is beyond what English can translate. Talking about God as your Abba really is blasphemy, and we don't get that in the translations.

"Elfish have a world of words describing relationships, and translating a word or a couple of words can at times take a paragraph or even a page, because of the layers of meaning, and how they relate to other words or phrases.

"Albus and Cleo have not really been all that involved in the details of all the translations."

No one said anything for a couple of minutes, and then Ginny told the couple, "I will let you know as soon as either of them awake. I am sure they will want to see you."

2021