Albus Potter and the Prophesied Year

by JetLaBarge

The fourth of my Albus Potter and series, and the eighth in the long Almost Happily Ever After saga of the Potter and Weasley families from after the Battle of Hogwarts, through the 19-year epilogue, and now well into Albus's years at Hogwarts. Many threads that I have been developing in the past seven books will come to a head in this book.

21. Ch 21 Three Weddings

APPY Albus Potter and the Prophesied Year

APPY Ch 21 Three Weddings

There was a small crowd at breakfast at Potter's New Burrow. James and Erica were beaming. Hermione was fussing, and Ron announced, "I'm going to the Wheezes, but will be back right after lunch."

"Ron, help me with security here, and let George take care of the Wheezes," Harry told Ron. "Even George and Angelina are taking off this afternoon and evenings for the weddings."

Hermione glared at Ron. Ron contacted George, and came back, a sheepish look on his face. "Angelina bawled me out for thinking about going into work."

Harry told the group, "I'm going to be working with the DMLE on security here, so I should be here all day. I think by noon I will be totally free. I would not even work this morning, but we are just critically short of staff.

"Dennis Creevey is working the whole Christmas Holiday to try and give me time off until after Christmas."

Ann and Orwant were tired. Ginny told them, "You have time for a short nap. We need to talk to the wizard officiating at the wedding this afternoon, before Albus and Cleo marry." They agreed on a time.

Harry turned to Albus and asked, "Do you have wedding rings?"

Albus and Cleo looked at each other, and Albus explained, "We didn't dare look for rings before confronting great-grandmother, and we have hardly had time to think since we've been so busy."

Ginny looked at her wedding rings, and at Harry's. She thought, "I'm almost sure there were at least two sets of rings in the box that contained our wedding rings."

Harry replied, "Let's go to the Potter vault at Gringotts, Al, Cleo."

Harry took Albus and Cleopatra to the Potter vault at Gringotts. Once inside Harry told the couple, "There is a box here with some jewelry. I think there may be a pair of wedding rings similar to the ones your mother and I wear."

Cleo took out her original wand, and went right over to a box. "Is it this box, Mr. Potter?"

Harry responded. "Cleo, you have been calling Ginny Mum Potter from almost the first time you two met. Please call me Harry, or Dad Potter, or something different than Mr. Potter.

"How did you know that was the box?"

"It just felt like the box, Dad Potter," Cleo pondered, her face showing that 'I do not know how I did that' look.

Harry opened the box, and then opened a little box inside the box. Inside was a woman's engagement ring and wedding ring and a man's ring that was obviously a mate to the engagement ring, plus a wedding ring that fit alongside the man's ring. Men almost never wore more than a plain band, but this set, for some reason, had a man's ring with a stone that you wore along with the wedding band.

The rings came with a parchment.:

"If you are thinking of giving these rings to each other, they come with a blessing and a warning.

Every couple who has worn these rings has been blessed with children to carry on the Potter name. The Potter fortune has increased, and all of the Potters have been generous because of their good fortune.

With wealth comes the obligation to be generous. Do not curse yourselves by being miserly.

If you want the blessing, you must promise to love each other in sickness as well as in health, in bad times as well as in good times, through sorrow as well as joy, knowing as you promise to love each other that there will be sickness and sorrow and hard times."

Harry observed, "This is identical to the parchment that was with your mother and my rings. We have certainly had our share of sorrow, and hard times, but much more joy and good times."

Harry gave the parchment to Albus, who put it in his pocket. Albus then put the engagement ring on Cleo, and she put the man's ring on Albus. Both stones glowed a steady glow, and Harry noticed that his ring had started to glow as well. Mid-morning Harry, Albus and Cleopatra were back at Potters New Burrow.

"We have wedding garments in Switzerland," Albus announced. "I have sent owls to them, and a witch that was involved in making them is going to be here about noon to fit them. We will not wear then until the wedding.

"I have not seen them, but I understand that they were made before we were born, and that they have been sized to fit us as we are now for as long as they have been made."

After lunch the witch showed up with another witch to work on Cleo's hair.

Albus and Cleo went to Albus' room. The witch that had come over with the wedding garments told the couple they needed to put on the garments and have her fit them. The witch also had jewelry for Cleo. Her hair was still in plaits, but the witch from Switzerland had some colorful fabric to go on the ends of the plaits as well.

Albus put on his garment. It was Royal Purple with lots of Gold and Silver. It was obvious that the wand in the wand holder was supposed to be one of the most powerful wands in the world. The garment shown until it was almost hard to look at it. The witch added the high peaked hat; the hat had a stone at its peak that shone like a lighthouse. There was just enough of the rich brown of Cleo's robes to show that this garment was paired with Cleopatra.

Albus looked at himself in the mirror and objected, "I can't wear this! It's like I'm saying I'm the most powerful wizard in the world!"

"You are supposed to wear this garment, Albus Severus Potter," the witch countered. "It was made under the guidance of some very specific prophesies. It is who you are."

"It is not just about you, Albus," Cleo pointed out.

The figure that represented Albus, that had an embroidered representation of his wand, did look like him, like Zeus or Thor, with a full beard like his, something very unusual for someone as young as he was. It was only because of whatever had caused the young Magi at Hogwarts to mature so much faster that he looked like a bearded Zeus.

Albus noticed a figure that could have been Cleo standing beside him, slightly in the background, then further in the background more couples, more representations of Magi or, depending on how you looked at it, the old gods and goddesses.

On the other side of the robe was another Albus, but this one was with a pregnant Cleo and several children, and in the background, indistinct, more families.

"I want to ask Mum and Dad about this," Albus pondered.

"Please," the witch replied. "After we have Cleo dressed have your parents and others come in and let you know if the garments are right for you."

The witch then turned to Cleo. After putting the robe on she adjusted the bust and neckline. What showed was an embarrassment of riches, more bust than most witches garments would show, and somehow erotic and maternal at the same time. Cleo was not that far along in her pregnancy that she should be showing, but there was something about her shape and the dress, the way it wrapped around her waist, thin for as big as she was, and then around those hips of hers, that left no doubt that she was pregnant, and would be pregnant, and that being pregnant was very very good!

The garment was full of pictures of families, two of them of a witch nursing a baby, a wizard holding a child, and other children looking on. There was some magic on the garment that showed the love of the parents for their children, and the love of the family. The largest of the families was rather obviously Albus and Cleo.

There was a wand holder for each wand, each ideally fitted to the wand it was holding. There was also just enough of the colors of Albus' robes to show that they were a pair.

The witch worked on the Cleo's hair, using the four plaits she often wore. The two little plaits coming down in front and snaking around her bust just emphasized her shape. Cleo did not have a hat, but flowers woven through the hair in such profusion that you could swear the gods and goddesses had woven them into the hair, continuing the theme of growth and fertility and an overabundance of life.

When the witch was done Cleopatra looked like the consort of the chief wizard, like a fertility goddess, like the goddess of family and physical love. Albus was stunned.

Ginny and Ann looked at Cleo, and at each other.

"It is too much," Ann whispered. "Except it is totally who she is. It is good in a way Jezebel never was, but it is too much."

Ginny muttered, "For years we have been trying to control how Cleopatra projects the desire to marry and have children, and everything we have been trying to control is out of control in those costumes."

Cleo sort of waved her hands in the gesture that meant she was very flustered, and wondered, "How can something feel so right, and at the same time so too much? It looks like me, and I like the me I see, but it is like way too much of me, except it is not, exactly, except it is."

The witch that had come over from Switzerland tried to explain, "These costumes were made in response to a prophecy many years ago. We know they are the correct garments because they fit Albus and Cleopatra. They are what they are, and today that is what they need to project."

Ginny thought that there really were not too many Magi in the world, and the prophesies has told her that the number of children she would have peaked at three, and then again as six, and she had blown past the three when she had Minerva, and maybe Teddy was one of the six, and besides she wanted, she wanted, she so wanted to experience being pregnant again, and nursing a baby, and … and she succumbed to the magic of the people and costumes.

Ann looked at Ginny and wondered, "Has Cleopatra always projected that feeling that as a witch you ought to have a large family, that being pregnant was a good thing?"

"We have worked very hard to control it," Ginny replied. "We have actually been reasonably successful at controlling it, except that I think that everything we have been trying to control is way out of control right now."

"I would like to say that it is wrong, that it is too much," Ann reflected. "Any other time it would be. It is just that right now, on her wedding day, I have the very strong feeling that whatever is too much any other time is just right now.

"Maybe it is because we are ready to have more children. We swore we would not have any more children until Jezebel was dead. Now that she is dead we do not have to worry about her sacrificing children. We do not have to worry about raising children with the perversion that was that island."

"How can you look at that dress and take birth control potions?" Ginny asked. She looked at Cleo. She sighed. "I guess tonight, on your wedding day, you are just going to be the fertility goddess."

"I've tried very hard to control it, but that IS sort of what I am," Cleo replied. "That is not all I am, but that is part of who and what I am.

"I will work very hard to keep underage witches and wizards from falling under my spell. I will not wear this dress until our wedding, but it is a little late to change anything."

The witch who brought over the wedding garments observed, "All of us who had a hand making these garments were a little worried, but the prophesies were so specific, and they fit Albus and Cleopatra."

Albus and Cleopatra took off the Swiss garments, and put back on the garments they were going to wear for the other weddings. Cleo's hair was also restored to a somewhat less over the top hairdo.

---

Promptly at 4:00 PM the music started and Bill and Donna walked Erica in from one side of the stage, Harry and Ginny walking James from the other side. The wedding ceremony was short and conventional. The wizards were dressed in Muggle suits, the witches in Muggle dresses. Erica was as tall as James, and they were a good looking couple.

At 4:45 the wedding for Rose and Scorpius started. Scorpius proudly stood up, and when he did the congregation burst into spontaneous applause. Scorpius was shocked, not sure what was going on. The applause became louder. Al told Scorpius he needed to acknowledge the applause, and Scorpius finally did. When Scorpius said, "Thank you," and motioned acknowledging the applause it reached another crescendo. When Scorpius finally realized that everybody was applauding for HIM, he had tears in his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief.

Rose knew how to dress, and a number of those attending wondered what Rose would wear. Rose and Scorpius were both good looking people. Rose wore a dress that was just enough off white that it was not the wedding dress of a virgin, which was appropriate. Her dress, had modest straps and a sweetheart neckline that revealed that her pregnancy had started to make her a little bigger.

Side by side she and Scorpius were what they usually were, a good looking couple who always dressed the part.

Ron and Hermione walked a radiant Rose down the aisle. When she heard the applause Rose just beamed, as did Ron and Hermione. You could see the joy in all their faces as they approached. Draco and Narcissa arose when Rose and her parents approached, Draco stiffly shaking everybody's hand. Everybody hugged Narcissa. Astoria eventually stood and reluctantly shook Ron and Hermione's hand.

Ron walked Rose up to Scorpius saying, "I could not imagine a finer husband for my Rose."

"Thank you, dad," Scorpius beamed, hugging Ron.

Hermione then gave Scorpius a big Molly Weasley hug and kissed him full on the mouth very briefly. "Welcome to the family, son," Hermione smiled. "We love you."

"I love you too, Mum," Scorpius replied. "I am so lucky that Rose came with such fantastic loving parents."

When it came time for the parents' spells Narcissa arose, pulling Draco up with her. Astoria followed, frowning. Ron crossed over the aisle to Druella Black, levitating the wheelchair she was in up to where Rose and Scorpius were. Arthur and Molly accompanied Hermione.

Rose proclaimed, "I owe my life to Scorpius's great-grandmother Druella Rosier Black. She sacrificed her arms, was willing to sacrifice her life, saving mine. She gave us her and her late husband's rings, which we are very proud to wear." Rose showed off the large engagement ring and the wedding ring that was obviously part of a set. Rose then clapped her hands, and everyone applauded Druella.

When the ceremony was finished the presider proclaimed, "I am pleased to introduce Mr. Scorpius and Mrs. Rose Granger-Malfoy."

"Scorpius," yelled Draco. "What did you do?"

"I know that usually the man keeps his name, and the woman loses hers," Scorpius loudly pointed out. "That does not seem fair. We decided to combine our last names, a famous Pure Blood name and an equally famous Muggle name. We are changing our surnames to Granger-Malfoy, to honor the Malfoy heritage but also the Muggle heritage of the Granger family."

Someone did a privacy spell over the Malfoy family as Draco could be seen arguing with his mother-in-law, with Astoria yelling something.

The Daily Prophet was there covering the weddings, although Rita was not, and it was noted that Narcissa and Draco said the parents' spells, and that Astoria may or may not have said the spells and seemed furious through the whole wedding. There was also a nice article about Druella and her sacrifice.

When that wedding was over Al and Cleo went back to change.

At 5:30 Al walked out onto the stage in the Wizards robe that had been provided for him. Everybody gasped. It was like one of the gods of old was striding out on stage. Somehow you knew that the wand in the pocket of the robe was the Elder Wand, not the Deathstick anymore, but still the oldest and most powerful wand of a wizard in the world. Not only was Al obviously a powerful wizard. Men were almost jealous, 'almost' because Al did not threaten their wives, but the obvious masculine power set you back on your feet. Women were aware what a real man was, a protector, but a loving protector, strong, but a loving strength. Women seeing Al wanted not him but their husbands. The figures on one side of the robe were of families, with the wizard the protector of his wife and children.

Then Cleo appeared. If everyone gasped at Al, the reaction was even stronger for Cleo. It was partly the erotic curviness of her figure, or that somehow the wedding gown exaggerated every curve. Enough breast showed to prove that it was all Cleo. Although Cleo was just a little chunky around the middle her waist to hip ratio was huge, with very large hips. Everything moved in every which way too, just the most maternal feminine movement you could imagine. This was the sexiest female any of them had ever seen, except it wasn't sexy in the way many beautiful women were. Cleo was not particularly beautiful, but she was all female. Because of the spells they wanted not her but their own wife, with a love that was erotic but also paternal.

If you were not married, men thought the best thing in the world was to be married, to be a husband, and a father.

Women wanted babies! The urge to mate was almost overwhelming. The Fertility Goddess was at her peak. Cleo's dress was less about sexy than it was about families, and like Al's robe, the figures were of families, loving families. Al and Cleo had worked real hard with the wands to make sure any power would not cause under age Magi to mate, and that is just what it did. All the feelings were still there, but they were overpowered by the feeling that you had to wait until you were sixteen at least. None of this tempering of the power was in effect for anyone else, with results that were at the best surprising and at the worst disastrous.

Many people at the wedding noticed a dramatic increase in the visible signs of affection between couples, bordering on lust in more than a few couples, but only between couples. There was no desire at all for Cleo; her affection for Al and the obvious power of Al's wand made any thought of Cleo mating with anyone but Al terrifying. Al's love(Eros) was so clearly focused exclusively on Cleo that Al was not a threat to any man for his that man's mate.

Some couples you always thought of together anyway. Arthur and Molly, Bill and Fleur, Harry and Ginny were so clearly in touch with each other that it was hard to imagine them as anything but a couple. Others were faithful but maybe not as much a couple. It was hard to imagine Percy and Audrey with anyone else, but they were so proper and polite with each other that you could almost see them as roommates and not lovers, except that today, for the first time anyone could remember, Audrey had her arm around Percy and he around her, and they were gently touching, not painfully proper.

As Cleo walked down the aisle you could see a faint line of power between her wands and Al's.

Albus and Cleopatra met on the stage that had been constructed, and placed their wands together, Female wand fit alongside of the Male wand, wands fitting together in a way that showed that they were made to be fitted together and used at times together, Albus' right hand above Cleopatra's left hand, both of them holding both wands.

When the wands joined everybody watching could see, visible but like it was superimposed on your view, a lightning bolt coming out of Albus' wand. There was no question that this was the wand of Thor, of Zeus, of the king of the gods.

It was hard to explain what people saw when the saw Cleopatra's wand, but it was fidelity to one's spouse, and overwhelming love for him and their children. It was fertility, spilling over in such an abundance that it took your breath away. It was all the feminine and motherly virtues personified. It was the goddess of the Home and Hearth personified, the female goddess to Albus' king of the gods.

The wizard who was supposed to be officiating knelt down before Albus and Cleopatra and proclaimed, "The gods of old have come back to life. You ARE Marriage; by what authority can I marry you?"

Albus reached out and took the little wizard's hand, and had him stand up, saying, "This is really embarrassing."

"How?" asked the little wizard.

"How what?" asked Albus.

"How can I marry you two?" asked the little wizard.

Albus answered, "By the authority granted to you by the Wizengamot, and by the traditions and laws of the Magi. Whatever the wands say we are, the individuals Albus Severus Potter and Cleopatra Desiree Smith, are under the authority of the Magi of Great Britain, and we humbly request our marriage be authorized and registered under the same laws."

"As you say," the small wizard responded.

Albus took Cleopatra's hands in his hands and proclaimed, "Cleopatra, since the first day we met you have filled a gap in my heart I never knew I had. I have given you my all, and received back from you more than I ever gave. We are still two unique individuals, but from the start we have also been a couple, Albus and Cleopatra. By these vows I promise you, and promise before all assembled here, that I will stay faithful to you in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, in the springtime of our youth and in the winter of our lives. I promise to partner with you in raising our children.

"I offer you my body, as you offered yours. Three days ago we signed the formal engagement documents, and became one flesh. I cannot describe how right and fitting being physically united felt. I thought I could not love you more before we were united, bodily as well as in our souls, but I was wrong. Thank you for being my mate, my wife, my partner in life."

Cleopatra responded, "Albus, the first day we met I felt whole and complete in a way I never felt before. I have given you my all, and received back far more than I ever gave. Being Albus and Cleopatra has been the center of my existence, the best part of me. By these vows I promise you, and promise before all assembled here, that I will stay faithful to you in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, in the springtime of our youth and in the winter of our lives.

"I freely offer you my body, offer it as the vessel for bearing and nursing our children. I thought I knew what being physically united was going to be, but your love gives me ecstasy far beyond my wildest dreams. Thank you for being my mate, my husband, the father of our children, my partner in life."

Together they said, "We promise to be faithful to the tasks that the community of the Magi, and to the wider community of all the magical beings, may place on us. We promise to be subject to the laws and traditions of the Magi, in as far as we are able, for the rest of our lives."

The small wizard waved his wand over the couple, expecting the usual stars to flow down around them. There were stars that flowed briefly around Albus and Cleo, but then an overwhelming abundance of stars flowed around almost every couple watching the wedding.

Harry and Ginny, Ann and Orwant walked up on stage. Ginny looked out and saw that every lactating mother was nursing her baby, none covered up and embarrassed although not flaunting it either, like having a breast exposed and nursing a baby was the most natural thing in the world. She looked at Ann and the two smiled, both remembering fondly the good parts of nursing, and conveniently forgetting the not so good parts.

When both sets of parents were up on stage you could see three sets of power lines, visible signs of the union of two different people. When Al and Cleo kissed after their vows every couple at the wedding kissed their spouse or date (with rare exceptions), not just a kiss but the kind of kiss that you remember for the rest of your life, the kind of kiss that signals love and commitment. For spouses or for those who would become spouses it was almost always a kiss of eternal commitment and love. Everybody was shaken at the end of the wedding.

Arthur and Molly came up for grandparent blessings, Molly very proud that she and Arthur were the only couple blessing all three of the couples, and she also noticed all the nursing mothers.

As soon as the ceremony was over for Al and Cleo tables were set up for dinner, all over both houses in the kitchens, the living and dining room and the areas set up for the wedding between the two houses.

Harry and Ginny ate with James and Erica, the Lionhearts and a large number of Quidditch players. Harry really did love Quidditch, and this was a chance for him to ignore his Auror duties and just enjoy himself. It was hard to ignore the deaths and injuries, however. Always at the back of his mind was the knowledge that other families were grieving.

Lily and Minerva were also with Harry and Ginny. Lily Luna was almost beside herself she was so happy. Ginny told Harry "It's hard to tell if she is happier about meeting all the Quidditch players or happier that she is with young Billy Lionheart. We need to watch those two." At one point Ginny told Lily, "We ought to be able to tell that there are two bodies dancing, young lady, not having you merge quite as totally as you seem to be trying to do." Lily gave Ginny a snarky smile and just held Billy tighter. Harry had seen that smile on Ginny long before Lily. Billy for his part was not trying to pull Lily into himself, but he was not fighting it all that hard either.

Eventually Harry took Billy aside and told him to cool it a little. Billy asked, "How do you control Mrs. Potter, like when she wants to do something and you think maybe it is not the right time or … you know … like when we were dancing and Lily held me so tight and I was not quite sure how to tell her to cool it."

Harry thought back to Ginny assuming he had proposed, yessing his non-proposal. "I'd like to give you some secret piece of advice," Harry thought, "but once in a while you just let them do something and try to pick up the pieces. Good luck!"

"I do like Lily, Mr. Potter," Billy replied. "She is an excellent Quidditch player and a lot of fun. She can be a bit wild sometimes, though. I hoped you had some simple way of making her behave."

"Sometimes we don't have any way of making her behave, simple or complicated," Harry admitted. "She sat in a time out chair way more than all the other children combined."

Bill rolled his eyes in mock horror at this, and responded, "Like all her detentions at Hogwarts!"

Harry responded with, "Good luck, Billy." Looking at the mixture of love and exasperation on Billy's face, Harry thought Billy was going to need some help with his daughter. Billy was heading into interesting times at the minimum.

Four of the Quidditch couples there did not have any children. The wives of both of the male Quidditch players were pregnant that spring. One of the Harpies players had been living with her boyfriend for the last four years. They married before the start of the spring season, and she became pregnant over the summer. The other Harpies player had more or less been going with another player for some time. They came to the wedding together, and then quite to their surprise they moved in together over the winter break and married over the next summer break. She did not have a child for three years, still a little sooner than she had expected. There were a lot more babies born to Quidditch couples that had attended the wedding that year, none of them too surprising on their own but the total number quite unusual.

Rose and Scorpius sat with Ron and Hermione, Hugo, and the Malfoys. Draco and Astoria seemed to be a little more affectionate that they usually were, at least not at war with each other. They acknowledged the praise for Scorpius' heroism. They were obviously somewhat uncomfortable, but everyone there was at least polite or ignored them. When the dancing started they did dance, partly to avoid sitting there not saying much to anyone else. Narcissa was a delight, smiling and talking to people. When the dancing started Narcissa was more alone, until Arthur Baker showed up. Arthur's wife Phyllis hated weddings and dancing and anything new, and Arthur usually left with Phyllis and missed, as he said, "All the fun." The rest of the evening Arthur Baker and Narcissa Malfoy talked and even danced some.

People kept coming up to congratulate Scorpius. Scorpius acknowledged the praise with humility and grace, impressing many. Rose of course was thrilled with all the people praising Scorpius, but even more surprising to many was how proud Ron Weasley was of his son-in-law. It was noticed that Draco and Astoria seldom spoke to anyone other than occasionally Narcissa or Scorpius. Rose and Scorpius even danced some, always slow romantic dances.

Al and Cleo sat, when they were sitting, with her parents Annatole and Orwant, plus grandmother Lilith Nukpana. They had taken Lilith Nukpana's wand, and put some mild confinement spells on her. Lilith Nukpana was letting her daughter lead her around; Lilith had always been under the total domination of her mother and really did not know what to do now that her mother was dead.

Cleopatra appeared giddy with excitement, eager to talk to everybody. There were a fair number of small children there, and Cleo spoke to all of them, usually holding them and playing short games with them. She spoke to all the mothers and exuded the joy of motherhood.

Cleo spoke to as many of the couples as she could, waving her wands over every couple. She was just gushing, and to most of the people there it looked like Al was trying just to keep up with her. This was a total illusion. Al and Cleo were carefully working the room, getting to know people, carefully judging the personalities of the individuals and couples as only Magi trained by elves could.

Early in the evening they went over to two couples with seats on the Wizengamot. One couple had the wife on the Wizengamot, but they could tell that the husband had much more influence that the couple wanted to even admit to themselves. The other couple was just the opposite, with a quiet and outwardly submissive wife that was very much the power behind the throne type. Both couples were inclined to support the Pure Blood faction, and Al and Cleo had both couples over to see Scorpius and Rose, and have them tell about seeing the founders of Hogwarts. By having Scorpius tell the story they were reinforcing the idea that even Salazar Slytherin was no longer in favor of the Pure Blood agenda. By letting the couples know that Albus had the power to call help from the dead with the Resurrection Stone they were also letting everyone know that Al was an extremely powerful wizard without Al having to say anything.

Rose and Scorpius were amazed with how well Al and Cleo were working the room. They were actually good dancers, despite the obvious mismatch in size. Although to the casual person they were just wandering across the dance floor, in and among the people, Scorpius and Rose could see that Al was telling Cleo what they were going to do next, and Cleo was going at it with the wild abandon that characterized her party attitude. You could say much more, could even think much more, about how people though and related, in Elfish than in English, and Rose and Scorpius were in awe of just how much information Al and Cleo were getting, without anyone being aware of it. Hermione had some vague idea, because Rose talked to her about it, but Ron was as clueless as anyone. Ron finally said to Scorpius and Rose, who were at this point on either side of Ron, "I don't see how Al puts up with Cleo. She is just wild! Crazy!"

"There is not a couple in this room more in control than those two, dad," Scorpius replied. "See the Athertons'. Cleo is going to bump into Mrs. Atherton." At this moment Cleo did bump into Mrs. Atherton, and after a big apology they started to talk. Cleo was listening sympathetically to something, touching Mrs. Atherton with a soothing gesture. Meanwhile Al was talking to Mr. Atherton. Mrs. Atherton was on the Wizengamot, and they had been led over to see Scorpius and Rose earlier.

"This conversation is going to last between three and five minutes," Scorpius prophesied. "Then they will dance for the rest of the song, more or less, and either bump into someone else or end up next to someone Al wants to talk to." Sure enough, after four minutes the two couples separated, and seven minutes later, after the next song was just finishing, Al and Cleo just happened to be next to someone else they wanted to talk to. Cleo had brushed her ample chest against a young man, and had slightly embarrassed him. "I'm not sure what game they are playing this time," Scorpius observed, "but believe me that was no accident."

Ron watched intently as Al and Cleo worked the floor. "Are they always like this?" he asked.

"More and more," Scorpius confirmed. "Rose and I communicate by talking or even writing, but those two have some way of communicating that goes beyond talk." Well before the end of the evening Ron could also see how Al and Cleo were working the floor, and he was just amazed.

The party after the weddings had to rank as one of the most unusual anyone there had ever been to. Almost everyone had a fantastic time, and in one way you did not want it to end. On the other hand, if you had a partner you lusted after them in a way you maybe had never felt before. At about 10:00 PM the party started to break up, with numerous couples leaving hand in hand if not closer. Shortly after 10:00 PM Draco and Astoria left, surprisingly enough hand in hand. The wizard from St. Mungo's suggested that Rose and Scorpius should go to bed. Scorpius had held up reasonably well, but by this time he was exhausted and they left for Rose's room. Narcissa Malfoy and Arthur Baker were enjoying the conversation, and dancing with each other, so much that they stayed until after 11:00 PM. Ron went to bed as soon as Draco and Astoria left; he was going to be working at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, since the days before Christmas were some of the busiest days of the year. Hermione had off until after Christmas, and Ron was going to call her if they needed even more help at the stores.

At 11:00 PM the band left, but no one was forced to leave. By 11:30 only people staying at the New Burrow or Potters New Burrow were left.

Al and Cleo were telling Harry and Hermione some of the things they had learned that evening. If you thought Cleo was out of control it would have been a real surprise to see how calmly and objectively she described people and their beliefs, people and their relationships, people and their problems.

Some of the last people up were Hermione, Al and Cleo. Hermione asked the question that had been bothering her all evening. "Just how many babies are going to be conceived this evening, Cleo?"

"Lots, Aunt Hermione," Cleo replied, rather pensively. "Mostly that's a good thing, or OK. I don't know how to control that part of the wand and costume and all. I mean, I've worked really hard to control it, and I usually can, but not at my wedding. It is like all the work that I have done to control the Fertility Goddess burst forth for my wedding."

"It would have been better if we had received the wedding garments some days before the wedding," Al proposed. "We could have worked very hard to project the good parts of being a couple and raising children without the out of control urgency of today. We are going to have to work hard to control what we are as a couple, even while we rejoice in the goodness of having a family and raising young witches and wizards."

"It worries me that some of the babies are going to be conceived by parents under the spell of the Fertility Goddess and all, that would never ever have been conceived any other way," Cleo reflected. "That's not totally a good thing, and I need to learn how to control the wand and me and all that, and I'm not sure how. It will be better tomorrow but it's a problem."

"I'm thinking I'm glad that I did something after Hugo so I won't have any more children, Cleo," Hermione told the young witch. "I almost want another baby right now, so bad I can taste it, but I know that it won't last. I know that even if I could still become pregnant I would take the birth control potions tonight. I feel a little guilty that Hugo was, well, it's not like I don't love him and I'm glad for Ron's sake we have him but for me personally it was just a little too much. Not a lot too much but another baby, like Ginny's three and now four and I bet they will have another one like so many others, for me it would just be too much."

Hermione glanced over at Ginny as she said this and Ginny had that dreamy 'I think I'll have another baby,' look on her face. Ginny and Harry were leaving, heading to their bedroom at Potter's New Burrow, and just by looking at them you could see the love and lust they had for each other.

"I understand with my mind, I really do, Aunt Hermione," Cleo sniffed. "I just love babies and children so much, I just feel like I was made to be a mother so much, that I don't always understand with my heart. It's just hard sometimes. And it's hard when you see couples who don't love each other."

"I think it's harder on you than on most people," Hermione reflected. "You get so close to other people's minds and emotions when you are making scents."

"Their emotions and what they feel is more important than what they think," Cleo elaborated. "For you, for Rose and Scorpius, the two are almost the same thing. What you think you are thinking and what you are thinking are almost the same thing. Not so for most people."

"What about you, Cleo? What is your mind like?" Hermione wondered.

"Oh, … I guess I am about as crazy on the inside as I am on the outside," Cleo admitted, grinning. "Al focuses me, gets me to do the right thing. And I am even crazier in love with him on the inside than I am on the outside." At this Cleo got the sappy in love look she frequently had when talking about or looking at Al.

"I think it's time for bed, Cleo," Al suggested. "Not for sleep," he kidded, reaching for Cleo's hand and grinning at Hermione.

"Enjoy yourself, Mrs. Potter," Hermione told Cleo.

"Mrs. Potter, Cleopatra Potter, Oh yes Aunt Hermione," Cleo beamed with wonder and tears in her eyes and a huge smile on her face. Al also had a big smile as he led his new bride up to his, no their, bedroom.

When they went to bed Al and Cleo made love in the normal way, but when, after Cleo had three of the strongest climaxes she had ever had, and Al had finally climaxed, and had started to relax, they stayed together. "I want to stay like this, Cleo, just have us relax and stay united."

Cleo could feel Al relax, enough that they were just relaxing together. It felt so very good. They stayed joined together for a while, just enjoying being two people but one flesh, before Al started to slowly move, and he began to get the physical signs of being turned on again. They moved together gently for quite a while, enjoying being together without the urgency of before. Cleopatra thought, and projected to Albus, and in some way to all the people who had been at the wedding, how radical a surrender this was.

Cleo could feel all the parts that twitched so urgently when she was having an orgasm but although she could feel something, it didn't have the urgency, the sharpness, of before. Instead, it was slower, deeper, richer. It was an emotion and a feeling she could live with. Cleo projected her emotion, her utter and complete contentment, to Al, and he back to her.

At that most private part, at that part that no one except your partner should ever touch, at least like this, at that most private part of you not only was it not private, but you let your partner IN you. If you became pregnant, and she was pregnant, and her pregnancy was a joy, then something of your partner was left inside you for about nine months, and you were no longer just you, but you shared your body with another human. What you ate and drank, everything you did, it was not just you, but you and the baby. And the baby was not just you, but you and your partner, and together you loved, and surrendered yourself to each other, and created another person.

Cleo projected the joy at creating another person with magic that was primitive and urgent in its strength, and when she and Albus climaxed again, when the pleasure totally overwhelmed her, it spilled over again to all the couples who had been at the wedding. It was a rare couple who did not wake up, and make love, usually again, with a passion that was at the same time almost painfully urgent and totally overwhelming.

And Cleo thought, 'This is good. This is who I am, and why I am, to project love and the love of your spouse, Eros, and the love of having children.'

And Albus, for himself, surrendered himself to being totally willing to partner with Cleopatra in having and raising all the children that they would have.

Albus was aware, more than Cleo was, that this urge to mate and have children was probably not appropriate for all the couples there, and that concerned him.

Too much of a good thing was not a good thing, but too much.

2022