Ch 34 An Unexpected Guest

Albus could tell that something was forcing him away from shore, and tried to turn around, but he was prevented from changing the direction of the sailboard. He tried to get off the sailboard but something was holding him on. He drew his wand and tried to Apparate, but that didn't work. He fought the wind and forces holding him for about ten minutes, and then a whirlwind of Dementors circled around him, drawing him up into the air. The largest of the Dementors grabbed his soul and started to draw it out of his body.

"Expecto Patronum," Al shouted, but the sound died in the whirlwind. He could feel himself being pulled apart, body from soul. He tried to see his parents or anybody else, but couldn't. He reached into the pocket of his bathing costume and found the ring with the Resurrection Stone, and turned it around.

Cleo! There was one person he could always get in touch with. 'Help' Albus thought. 'I need our Patronum NOW.'

It was nine in the evening, and Cleo was sitting in her room reading when she could feel Albus call. She tried to see what Albus was seeing, and could feel his soul starting to separate from his body. She reached for her wand, and noticed that her ring, the one identical to the one Albus wore, was glowing, pulsing.

'Let me take you, not the Dementor,' she thought. She would join her soul to his, and together they would fight off the Dementors.

'Cleopatra, not you evil creatures,' thought Al, as he concentrated on opening his soul to his soulmate. "Expecto Patronum" Albus yelled.

"Expecto Patronum!" Ceo yelled. "Expecto Patronum.

She was too far away. She tried to merge her body with Al. 'The Resurrection Ring, Al! Ask for help. Please, all the powers of Good, HELP US!"

She grabbed ahold of Al, gripping their bodies together. She touched her wand hand with his, and yelled, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

There were loud roars, and the Lion and Lioness Patronusesof Al and Cleo started to tear apart the Dementors. It looked like they were feasting on them, literally tearing them apart. Al and Cleo later said that each of them seemed to 'eat' two of the Dementors before every other one fled in terror. Albus and Cleo found that they were together, Albus sitting on Cleo's lap, Al's left hand holding Cleo but also gripping the Resurrection Stone, Cleo holding Albus's back, sitting up in the air with nothing holding them up.

As the Dementors fled Al and Cleo started to plummet towards the sea, but each of them was caught in the mouth of their Patronus and, like a cat carries her kittens, brought to shore.

Each of the Patronus spit out two bedraggled messes of something, four in total, digested souls, almost people looking things. "We can serve you," one of the things offered.

"That's stupid," Cleo replied. "Why would we want you to serve us? You look like many souls. Are you?"

"I'm ten," one of the Dementors admitted.

"I'm eight."

"I'm six."

"I'm also six."

"Well, that's not natural!" Cleo exclaimed. "Can you separate into your individual souls?"

One of the Dementors separated. The six now fuzzy individuals looked at Albus and Cleo. One of them said, "I would like to be with my family in the afterlife, not live here on earth in this terror."

"I don't know if we have any power over you, but as far as I am concerned you can and should go," Albus volunteered.

"You are better off dead than being part of a Dementor," Cleo insisted. "Go!"

Three of the six souls disappeared.

"Why don't you go?" Al asked the others.

"I'm afraid of judgment," one of them explained.

"Ask for mercy," Albus told the frightened soul. "You have suffered enough. Plea for mercy."

One by one the other souls disappeared.

"Separate!" Albus commanded, holding on to the Resurrection Stone, to another mass of souls.

Six souls stood there before Albus and Cleopatra, but two souls flew around them in fury, yelling and cursing.

"Tell us to die and face judgment," one of the souls pled. "Let us face a merciful God, not the wrath of these devils."

"Go and face judgment, and may God be merciful," Albus responded. All eight of the souls departed, two with terrible screams.

They treated the remaining two groups of souls the same, and with each of the remaining Dementors there were two of the souls that did not want to separate and face judgement. When the last of the creatures that had been Dementors was gone, the Patronuses disappeared.

No one but Albus and Cleopatra heard the discussions, but everybody saw the Dementors and the collection of souls that had been Dementors.

When the Dementors had disappeared Albus and Cleopatra were left standing on the beach holding hands. The glow of the rings they shared faded, but Harry and Ginny were aware of the rings for a change. Normally the rings on Albus and Cleo were invisible.

Albus and Cleo pulled together and awkwardly kissed, then still holding hands separated.

"Hello, Cleopatra," Ginny said.

Cleo looked around, unsure where she was, "Oh, uh, hello Mum Potter," she replied.

"How did you get here?" Ginny asked.

"I felt Al call. HE NEEDED ME, so I came."

"How?"

"I don't know. I just tried to get into his mind to help him fight the Dementors, and we needed both Patronuses, and so I held onto him, and there he was and there I was. I guess I ought to tell Mrs. Malfoy where I disappeared to.

"This is a nice beach! Oh hi, James. Albus, were you out on a sailboard too? That looks like fun."

"Cleo, aren't you terrified?" Ginny wondered.

"Oh, Mum Potter, I was, but, I was SO terrified that I ended up HERE, that's some powerful magic and terror and THEY WERE AFTER AL and that's terrible so I came but now everything is, the Dementors are gone, and here we are on this great beach and I'm with Albus and what's to be afraid of anymore?"

Cleopatra smiled a great big smile on, waved her arms around and proclaimed. "This is SO much BETTER than Malfoy Manor. Oh Al, I'm not saying it was worth the Dementors attack, but aren't you GLAD that we are TOGETHER on this FANTASTIC BEACH! Oh Mum Potter, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, this is fantastic.

"Where am I going to stay? With Lily? That would be fun. I expect Al and James are rooming together. I don't mind if I have to be on a, maybe they can bring a bed in for me, so Lily and Minerva can have the good beds. Where is Ivana staying? Maybe I can stay with her."

Ginny looked at Harry, totally at loss for words. Harry took Ginny's hand.

"She just said 'yes' to the invitation to stay that you never gave," Harry whispered.

Ginny looked at Harry in horror and frustration, before giving a resigned sigh. Cleopatra was a force of nature, and when she assumed something … Ginny had met her match in Cleo.

"I think we ought to debrief on this Dementor attack," Harry said to what was now a reasonably large contingent of Aurors. "Anyone who was not here for the Dementor attack can leave if they want to, as far as I am concerned."

Harry had met the chief of the Aurors assigned to the island, and she and her chief assistant were both there. She had some of the Aurors interview other people on the beach who may have seen something, and dismissed others.

Harry had them all go to a place where there were some seats and tables. When everybody was seated he turned to Albus and told his son, "Tell us what happened."

"I was sailing on the sailboard, and all of a sudden it was out of my control," Albus told the group. "It took me out to sea. I felt like it was taking me away from the wards protecting the island. When we had gotten far enough out a physical whirlwind attack me, and there were Dementors in it. One of them tried to take my soul. I tried to fight it off, and couldn't. I tried to get help, but nothing was working. I could not summon my Patronus. So I called Cleo. We, well, we can more than talk to each other. We can each sort of get into the others body, sort of, see what the other is seeing and really be present for each other. I called for Cleo and she came. I asked her to take control, that if anybody or anything was going to control me it was going to be her, and no one and nothing else, and she did it and she conjured up both of our Patronuses. Well, I helped, and once they were formed we both helped, and we mostly kept our own Patronus fighting but, but, well we were sort of joined in mind and soul at that moment so we, well it's hard to explain."

Harry looked at Cleo, and she began. "Albus is SO logical! Everything is so organized in his mind. If I need to know something and can't think about it, I just ask Al and he KNOWS. I don't know how he gets into my mind because everything is all over, I mean I feel as much as know and analyze, and, but that's why it is SO hard to understand and explain how we share a mind or maybe we share two minds or, no, we can sort of tell what the other one is thinking or feeling and it's a lot, a LOT more than mind reading, or Legilimency, but it's not at all like we are the same person it's, because, I know because when I am in Al, in his body as well as in my body I am very aware that I am in AL'S body and not mine because, well, it's like this."

Cleo took a big breath. "Maybe I can explain it better. It's like I can sort of understand what people are like, but it's not like reading a book and thinking like reading or hearing, it's more like knowing about what people are feeling. Al says I'm not a Legilimens, just really in tune to people's feelings, certain feelings anyway. Well, with Al and me it's a lot more but it's still not like reading, it's just way WAY more feeling what the other one is feeling and understanding what the other one is trying to communicate. Like even when I was, I really was, sort of running Al's body because I was forming both of our Patronus but even though I could feel what Al was feeling, like the sensations on his body,

"Oh, Mr. Potter, Al, it's really strange being in a man's body. I mean some boys and girls are sort of confused and there are even boys in girls bodies and girls in boys bodies, and that doesn't have anything to do with if you like boys or girls, people of the same sex or other sexes but Al is MAN and I am WOMAN and there is no confusing anything there but I was in his body controlling it but I always knew, it was one person but it was really two people all the time never one, two minds, just,

"Well, it's hard to explain."

Harry looked at Albus, confusion all over his face, and when he turned to look at Albus everyone else did too.

Al slowly looked around at everybody, and finally said, "I'm logical, and Cleo is Cleo. I really sort of liked her explanation."

"How did she get here?" asked Harry.

"I think that's a very logical question to ask," Albus replied, uncertainty all over his gestures. "Maybe somebody who has a lot of experience with soul bonded individuals could give us an answer."

Albus and Cleo unconsciously fingered the identical rings, rings that had seemed to have forged a connection between the two of them, although no one else noticed the rings.

Harry looked at Albus, frustration and a little anger starting to show.

Albus held out his hands in a pleading gesture, shook his head, and by his facial expressions conveyed that he was not trying to be a smart ass, but he honestly did not have any better explanation. "I'm sorry, Dad. I can't explain it!"

Harry just shook his head. He then turned to the Aurors. "How often does an attack like this happen?"

"Never like this," the head Auror answered. "The few times it has happened and it was witnessed the attack was over before anyone could respond. I think this is the first time I can remember when any individual resisted the attack of a team of Dementors."

Harry looked at the Elves, who were in the meeting. "How come you could not help?" he asked them.

"Once the Dementors were surrounding Albus there was nothing we could do," Frerin replied.

Harry took a deep breath, he needed to calm down, his son was safe, Albus was safe, Cleo was somehow here and now they had to move forward and figure out how to protect the people on the island for further Dementor attacks.

The debrief continued for some time, as everyone worked to try and understand what had happened.

After the debriefing Ginny turned to Harry and told him, "We need to talk." Turning to the children she said, "You can go back to the beach but NOT in the water until one of us is back."

Cleopatra looked at what she was wearing. She had taken off her jumper, but her blouse and full skirt were wool, comfortable for her cool bedroom, but way overdressed for a Caribbean beach.

"I'm not exactly dressed for the beach," she noted. "I thought it would be hot, but there is a nice breeze blowing." Cleo looked at what the others were wearing. "I'd borrow a bathing costume, but I don't think any of yours would fit."

Ginny tried to remember her seamstress charms. She had occasion to use them when the children were going through growing spurts and it was hard to keep up with the changing height, the changing size, of the children. She waved her wand and shrunk the sleeves of Cleo's blouse, and gave it a scooped neck. She wanted to change the fabric, but that was way beyond her skill.

"We will get some clothes for you as soon as I am finished talking to Dad Potter, Cleo," Ginny told Cleopatra.

"Thank you, Mum Potter," Cleo replied.

Harry motioned for one of the Aurors to accompany the children back to the beach, and all of the Elves, except Dobedo and Mitzi, left with the children.

Cleo walked out of the room with the others, and as soon as she was outside started singing,

"Ain't no mountain high enough," as she raised her hands up high,

"Ain't no valley low enough," as she put her hands down low,

"Ain't no ocean wide enough," as she spread her hands out wide,

"To keep me from YOUUU, AL."

She repeated the verse with Al singing the melody and she the harmony, then a third time with all the children, even Minerva, joining in. Albus had the biggest smile on his face.

Ginny looked at Harry, wondering, "How can you be amused and terrified at the same time? This is a strange life we are living, Mr. Potter."

"It's hard not to like Cleopatra," Harry answered. "The prophesies worry me, and everything says that those two are going to confront more evil before too much longer, but it's hard not to like Cleo as a person."

"Like is way too small a word for Cleo," Ginny countered. "Cleo was right. I need to contact Narcissa. I just do not know how."

Dobedo replied, "I can use my mobile to contact one of the Elves in England, one who knows Debbie at Malfoy Manor. I will do that right now."

Harry and Ginny heard Dobedo use his mobile to call someone. They talked for maybe ten minutes. "Debbie and Joby, one of the Auror Elves, will tell Mrs. Narcissa Malfoy," Dobedo let the Potters know.

Narcissa was sitting in her office when Debbie and an Elf she did not know knocked, and then came into the room with Scorpius. "We need to tell the two of you something," Debbie told Narcissa.

"Come in," she replied.

"A short time ago Albus was attacked by Dementors. He called for help, and by some magic we do not understand Cleopatra was suddenly in the Caribbean to help. She saved him, and now she is there and not here. I expect she will come back to England with the Potters December thirty-first."

"She left her bedroom a bit of a mess," Scorpius thought. "That is not like her."

"Does she have any clothes? Is there anything else we need to get her?" Narcissa wondered.

"She has her wand, and I am sure Mrs. Potter can take care of anything else she needs," Debbie replied.

"Thank you for letting us know," Narcissa told the Elves. "If Cleo had just disappeared we would have been very worried."

Just then there was a knock on the door, and Dis, Cleo's Elf, asked to come in. "Is Cleo all right?" Dis asked. "I was told you knew."

"She is in the Caribbean with Albus and his family," Debbie told Dis. "Suddenly, by magic. You should take a suitcase with clothes to her."

Narcissa dismissed the Elves, but she and Scorpius spent some time discussing what had happened, and deciding how to tell the rest of the family, and what to tell them.

Ginny told Harry, "I need to get Cleo some clothes, and probably a bathing costume."

Harry agreed, so the two of them went back to the beach, where the children were sitting.

Ginny told Cleo, "Cleo, you need some clothes, something other than that wool outfit you are wearing. There is a little store here, and if the clothes are close in size I am sure the store can alter them to fit. I think we'd better go now before the store closes."

"Yes, Mum Potter," Cleo replied. "Albus has our money."

Ginny was always startled when Albus or Cleo talked about 'our money' like they were already married and sharing everything. She knew that they had joint money from the Perfume and Shampoo business, but they always talked like everything was shared, not just the business.

"I'm not worried about the money right now, Cleo," Ginny responded.

The first thing Ginny and Cleo purchased were two reasonably modest bathing costumes.

Ginny knew that Albus and Cleopatra had not consummated their relationship yet, …yet. The dotted lines on the Tapestry showed that much. Ginny pondered how much longer they could resist. Cleo had just turned sixteen, and Al would this summer. Magi became adults at seventeen, but too many lost their virginity at sixteen. Ginny knew she could have, once the betrothal documents were signed. What she wanted when she was sixteen was what she as a mother didn't want for her children.

Just before dinner Dis showed up with a suitcase, so Cleo would have more clothes including something to wear when they were traveling back to England.

After dinner Ginny took all the girls to the bedroom they were sharing. There were two king size beds, so if everybody shared a bed there was room for all four girls.

"Where do you want to sleep?" Ginny asked Cleo.

Cleo sighed, and had a dreamy look on her face.

Lily laughed, kidding, "She WANTS to sleep with Albus, Mum."

Minerva wondered, "Why? Is Albus fun to sleep with?"

Cleo became very embarrassed, and mumbled, "I don't know." She remembered when they did share a bed, after she was captured by the merpeople. Albus was very good, and easy to sleep with, but all they did was sleep. It wasn't anything she wanted to talk about.

Lily laughed and laughed. Ivana giggled, a knowing smirk on her face. Minerva looked confused. Ginny had all she could do to keep from bursting out laughing too.

Finally, Cleo sighed, "I expect I will sleep here."

"Do you want me to get another bed?" Ginny asked.

No one said anything.

"You all need to share a bed," Ginny noted. "It will be rather crowded if we put another bed in here."

"I'll share a bed with anyone." Cleo volunteered.

"Cleo sleep with me?" Minerva wondered.

"Would you like that?" asked Cleo.

"Cleo sleep with ME!" Minerva insisted.

Ginny said, "We'll try it for a night.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough was written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson in 1966, and was first successful as a 1967 hit single recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. It has been covered by a number of other artists including Diana Ross.

2021