Ch 31 New Bedrooms
The Hogwarts Express arrived at the Hogwarts Station very late in the afternoon. The carriages were waiting for the students as usual. It was a cold and cloudy winter day, but not blustery, and the ride to the castle was not too uncomfortable
"Why did they put the train station on the other side of Hogwarts?" Ben asked as Al and Cleo, Richard and Annabella, Jesus and Ginny entered one of the carriages.
"Rose and Scorpius are the font of all knowledge when it comes to Hogwarts history," Albus replied. "It is not like the Express is a regular train. No one in Hogsmeade uses it to travel to or from the village."
"I understand we have rooms next to you, in the married professor's wing," Ben told the crowded carriage as he and Karen crowded in.
"I can give you some of the history of the Hogwarts Express, later, if you are interested," a somewhat distracted Rose told Ben.
The next hour was spent in a rush as married students rushed to find their rooms and move all their belongings into them.
As the students filed into the Great Hall they noticed a side table up where the professors sat. Sitting there were six older Magi.
As the students sat down Minerva McGonagall stood up and announced, "The table over there," pointing, "is for some additional guards.
"I expect most or all of you have read about the battle at Malfoy Manor." The headmistress looked around, as a number of the students nodded. None of the students seemed totally unaware of the battle. "I am sure there will be books written about what led up to the battle, the battle itself, and how that battle changed the history of the Magi. I will say very little about that now.
"Albus and Cleopatra Potter are now heirs apparent to a position of power in Switzerland, and I understand that they will probably be traveling to Switzerland sometime this Spring. Meanwhile they have things to deal with here. They are staying in the wing of the castle that is usually reserved for professors. They are no longer Hogwarts students.
"I would like to meet with all of the newly married students, plus any who may have become engaged over the winter holidays who want to meet, right after dinner," Minerva McGonagall continued. She sat down as dinner appeared on the tables.
As dinner was starting Rudolphus Dearborn strode up to Albus, folded his arms, and in a hostile voice snapped, "Too high and mighty to sleep with us common folk?"
"I was anticipating sleeping with Cleo, not you, and I thought you wanted to sleep with Helena," Albus replied, working to stay calm. Some of the Slytherin students were still hostile, and it was frustrating and tiring living with them.
"You are not in the dormitory," Rudolphus stressed, sneering. "You knew what I meant."
"I don't have much choice," Albus ruefully replied. "I'm discovering that Cleo and I are expected to make many decisions for the wider magical community, but we are not exactly free to do whatever we want. It is more confining than I expected."
Rudolphus just shook his head.
Annabella told Helena Rosier Dearborn, "Congratulations on your wedding."
Helena replied, "Thank you. You were not there."
"I've been disowned because I married a Muggle born," Annabella explained. "I would have come, we would have come, if we had been invited."
Helena glanced at Rudolphus before loudly proclaiming, "If we had more time to plan the wedding, and if I had known, I would have made sure you were invited. WE would have come to your wedding too." Helena glared at Rudolphus when she said we.
"Thank you," Annabella replied.
Helena continued, "As it was, the wedding was awkward. Our parents were prepared to sign the formal engagement contract, but we didn't tell them I was pregnant until the start of Christmas vacation, and there was a lot of yelling and unhappiness. I mean, we were intimate, and that was not so much of a problem, but we were always careful, and as much as Professor McGonagall tried to explain what happened, both of our parents just yelled at us for being careless."
"So, you are a Slytherin now," Rudolphus told Rose, turning to her with a smirk.
"I'm still a Gryffindor, but I'm sleeping with my husband in the Slytherin dormitory," Rose countered. "I'm glad that married couples can have their own rooms."
Rudolphus glared at Jesus and Ginny Wang Rios. "You are only in fifth year! How come you get a room?"
"We turned sixteen in September, and you know what happened in October," Jesus replied. "We are not that much younger than some of the other couples, just a year behind in school.
Right after dinner Minerva McGonagall met with the newly married couples and three other seventh year couples who told her they had become engaged.
Minerva started out, "I realize that most of you did not anticipate at the start of this school year that you would marry over the Christmas holidays. Some of you may need some extra support from the Ministry. We have a couple from the Domestic Affairs Unit of the Ministry, a couple who specializes in marriage and family counseling, who is going to meet with each of you at least once this next month and will be available to meet with you as often as necessary.
"The laws and traditions of the Magi are hostile to children born out of marriage, and to not marrying the father of your baby. I also want to stress that in the rare case where the biological father is not the husband of the witch, the father of the baby is the husband of the witch, legally and magically.
"I have spent the last weeks talking to parents about what happened October first, as have a number of other people. They have been difficult conversations.
"Fairy tales, romantic novels, have a young couple falling in love and living happily ever after. They are fairy tales. You our married students have promised to love. Not to be in love, but to love, to love your spouse. To do the sometimes easy and sometimes hard work of loving. If you do, the wedding spells will help. The Ministry has people who can help.
"If you, like some of the couples I know, are married for fifty, seventy-five, even a hundred years, you will have hard times, and it will not always be happily ever after. It should be very good, however, if you keep to your promises to do the sometimes easy and sometimes hard job of loving each other.
"I want to introduce you to a couple who decided for good reasons to marry and fall in love, the parents of Professors Tom and Cinnamon Appleleaf, Michael and Rosemary Appleleaf."
Michael started, "The years before the Battle of Hogwarts were difficult for me and my wife. I was Michael Appledorn, married to my wife Grace, with three boys. Rosemary was married to Bill Bayleaf, with three girls. All of us had Muggle ancestry, and both families came under Ministry attack and death eater attack during the troubles. First our house was destroyed, and we moved in together, and then, shortly before the Battle, the house both families were staying at was found, and we went on the run.
"The four of us were very good friends, very compatible, so we did get along when we were on the run.
"When we found out about the Battle my wife Grace insisted that we fight. She was so mad that Tom Riddle and the death eaters had ruined our lives she felt we had to help defeat him. Rosemary's husband Bill volunteered to go with her. Both stressed Rosemary and I had to protect the children."
Michael turned to Rosemary, who continued, "Bill told me that if anything happened to them Michael and I needed to take the children and get out of England and make a life for ourselves somewhere safe. We both agreed. And then we found out that they were both were killed in the battle.
"Well, we had six children to take care of, and nothing and no place to go. Harry Potter hired Michael, and I took on the job of taking care of all six children. And we decided that the best thing we could do to give the children a stable living situation was to marry and merge the families. Michael even suggested changing our last name, blending the Appledorn and Bayleaf last names to Appleleaf, showing that we were building a new family out of the ashes of two very happy, beautiful marriages. We even had our rings remade and merged.
"We decided to fall in love. And we have. We have two children together, and a large and I think happy family. I don't love my late husband any less because I love Michael, and I know he doesn't love his late wife any less, but we are very happy together.
"All of you young couples, you have a choice. You need to choose to love each other, and if you do, with the help you have available to you, there is no reason you cannot be happy together."
Michael then said, "Romance novels tell you that love is finding the right person. It doesn't matter who you find, if you do not work at loving your spouse. Love isn't about finding the right person, but being the right person.
"We will stay this evening as well, if some of you newly married students want to talk to us."
Most of the couples left for their new bedrooms, but a couple did stay to talk to the parents of the Appleleaf professors.
That night all but the Weasley/Potter couples (who Minerva knew already had the book) received a package from Minerva McGonagall. The package read, "Congratulations on your wedding." Inside was a copy of The Witches' and Wizards' Graphic Guide to Married Sex.
Rose looked at all the clothes and books that were in their modest sized room. "We have plenty of books and portfolios for notes," she sighed. "Enough clothes too." She pondered some more. "Do you mind if I put drawers under the bed? I think I have a spell that allows you to have three drawers in the space of one, and you must indicate on the front which one you want to pull out. We are both tall so we can raise the bed enoughso it is three drawers high."
"I will gladly climb into bed with you, even if it takes a little work," Scorpius replied, grinning.
Rose then did something similar with the two-person desk. Scorpius helped arrange things. When they were finished it was time for bed. Rose stripped, amazed at how quickly it became natural to be naked in front of her husband. It was time to christen the bed with their love. The first months of the school year had been frightening, and Rose looked forward to an uneventful few months. She hoped by wishing for an uneventful end of the school year she didn't just jinx herself.
Elizabeth (Reynolds) Prewett looked at the modest size room that she was going to be sharing with Gideon. She walked down the short hallway to the next room, where James and Erica Potter were looking at their room. "I guess we share a bathroom," Elizabeth noted. "The rooms all seem the same size."
"They are not real big," James replied. "My room at home is bigger than this. Well, they gave us two bedrooms at Potter's New Burrow, so we have like three or four times as much room there."
"This isn't really much bigger than the room I shared with my little sister," Erica thought. "Well, it is just until the end of the year.
Just then Charles and Patricia Koizumi peered out of their door and came into the hallway.
"I think we need to leave the door from the common room into this hallway open," Elizabeth told the group. "Prefects really ought to be available, and this way they can knock on our door or leave a note if they want to talk to us."
"You are both prefects, and Elizabeth is head girl?" Patricia asked.
"Yes," Elizabeth confirmed. "I am very sorry to hear about your mother, Charles."
"She was looking forward to being a grandmother," Patricia sniffed. "At least we married the weekend before the battle, at their house, so she was there. My parents don't want anything to do with an evil witch and being pregnant didn't make things any better. The only grandparent we have left is Grandpa Koizumi. It is really hard."
"Stories about battles don't tell you how ugly they are," Charles added.
"How did your parents handle you being pregnant, Elizabeth?' Erica wondered.
"It was very tense," Elizabeth replied. "It is still tense. We didn't marry until last Friday, December thirtieth. We spent our first night together that night, at Gideon's house. I'm not sure if my parents will ever be willing to let the two of us sleep together at my house.
"Professor McGonagall and the Professors Appleleaf all tried to explain things to my parents, but they just don't want to hear it. The stories in the Prophet help a little, but my father just says that your mother, James, is just trying to cover up for what her sons did to their girlfriends. My father is not at all happy with Gideon. I hope he can change his mind."
"I guess we are lucky that our parents like us both, and accept our marriage," Erica volunteered. "I think I'm the unhappy one, because I won't be able to play Quidditch. It has nothing to do with James, and I guess I wanted to have his baby eventually, but the timing is really rotten."
The group of married students in the Gryffindor dorm spent more time talking before heading back to their own rooms.
Albus and Cleo left dinner and headed up to their rooms in the Married Professors' wing. Ahead of them were Olivia Ollivander and Sam Zauberstabhersteller. Albus and Cleo followed the professors all the way up to the floor where their rooms were and saw the two standing awkwardly outside the door to … Al and Cleo stopped and looked at the door, and the couple.
The door said:
Professor Olivia Ollivander
Professor Sam Zauberstabhersteller
"Are you married now?" Cleo asked, her face full of delight and wonder.
"The charms that caused students to become pregnant worked on the professors as well," Sam indicated.
"That's exciting!" Cleo bounced.
"Terrifying," Olivia sobbed. "It is not that I don't like Sam, but that and being married and, and, and all that being married, and pregnant entails is just …"
Sam sighed a patient sigh.
"May I examine you for soap and shampoo," Cleo volunteered.
"Come on in," Sam replied.
The two couples entered the professor's living room, and Cleo examined both of them. She could see that Sam was trying to be patient with Olivia and was trying to love her. Olivia was very hesitant about opening her mind and body to someone else, though. Cleo could sense that instead of passion, of enjoying the physical part of marriage, Olivia was reluctantly putting up with it.
A couple of nights later Cleo was back with soap and shampoo for each of them, and perfume for Olivia. She changed into the wedding dress before going over to the older couple, and asked if she could do a compatibility spell over them.
"Please!" Sam answered, before looking at Olivia with pleading eyes.
Olivia sighed, knowing that she ought to, and finally agreed, "Yes. You may."
The next morning Al and Cleo noticed Sam and Olivia walking to breakfast hand in hand. Sam turned to Cleo and said, "Thank you."
"You are welcome!" Cleo beamed. Her fertility goddess personality was not bad, just too powerful to be used promiscuously. She was going to have to be very careful.
Wednesday Grandmum Molly brought together the people who were going to be learning about structured play and how to raise small children. Audrey and Victoire were there, in the room in the small school building on the New Burrow grounds, and joining them were Josefina, Narcissa, and Druella.
"I'm still not sure why I am here," Druella wondered. "I would love to help, to be useful, but how can I be?"
"You can watch children," Molly replied. "You can read to them and ask them to turn the page. You can get them to help you, which is its own form of learning.
"With Teddy's children we will have plenty of time for hands on learning. It looks like we are going to need plenty of childcare over the next few years."
"How many of your daughter-in-laws may be pregnant?" Narcissa wondered.
"I would not be surprised if they all are, except Hermione," Molly admitted.
Audrey blushed. "I would not be surprised either," she added. "Percy and I may have a couple more. Plus, there will be more children from the next generation." She looked around. "We may need a bigger school."
Josefina looked like she was ready to burst into tears. "Is everybody in England nice?" she wondered.
"No," Molly replied. "I think most of the people you will meet if you live with us are nice, but there are some very nasty people in England too. You are welcome to stay here as long as you want."
"Teddy and I have been given the chance to have our own place," Victoire added, "but neither of us can see moving. Many people do not want to live in a multi-generation household, but I love it. I don't mind if you stay with us either. Your past was so awful, and if we can make your present and future good, I would like that."
Friday Harry was in Switzerland, looking at the Crystal Ball, and then comparing notes with the prophetesses.
"Is the Crystal Ball easier to use?" Nausicaa asked Harry.
"I would not say easier to use, exactly," Harry replied, pondering how to describe the difference. "Just less evil around the corner feeling? Not that the prophesies are any different, but you always felt that you could be drawn into evil with the Crystal Ball, and that feeling, although it is still there, is less."
"I think it is because Jezebel does not control one of the three Crystal Balls," Nausicaa thought.
Her granddaughter Sibylla agreed. "It will be interesting to see when Cleopatra brings the other Crystal Ball here. I think they are planning to do it around Easter."
"And then they will move here?" Harry asked.
"I think they have to," Nausicaa reconfirmed. "I just see something happening much sooner than Easter, and I cannot tell what it is."
"I'm reasonably sure it has to do with England and France," Sibylla added. "I just wish we knew what it is going to be."
"I hate it when I don't know what to plan for," Harry griped.
Friday after dinner Rose asked Annabella, "Do you want me to help you arrange your room?"
"Please!" Annabella replied. "I'm having trouble finding things since my parents threw me out of the house."
Rose and Scorpius accompanied Annabella and Richard into their bedroom. Rose looked at the crowded mess. "Let is put the trunks and some of this out in the hall," she suggested.
The room was reasonably tall, and they ended up with desks under their bed, which gave a whole different meaning to the phrase climbing into bed. This freed up a whole wall for storage. There was even room for a cot and changing table, not that they needed it yet. Over the next week a delighted Annabella showed several of the couples what Rose had done, and Rose helped other couples rearrange their bedrooms
Saturday evening the seventh of January the various religious leaders assembled, accompanied by some people who had expertise in counselling. Albus, Cleo, Scorpius and Rose were together, and they approached Bishop Scherica.
"I was baptized as an infant!" Cleo excitedly volunteered. "I can go to communion and, should we have a church wedding?"
"I think that might be a good idea," the bishop replied.
"I know I was not baptized, but I've been going to church with Rose," Scorpius said. "I want to be good. Will being baptized and going to church help me?"
"It can, if you try to follow the commandments and live a good life," the bishop replied. "Do you have any specific worries? You can tell me in confidence if you do not want to speak about something publicly."
"I don't mind telling you," Scorpius replied. "Cleo knows that my father has taken me into his office, and at the end of the day I don't remember what we did. I know I feel dirty about it, like I've done something wrong. And I know when I think of Rose and me it feels even more wrong, whatever we did."
"Blessing a marriage may help," bishop Scherica thought. "I wonder if we can find some soulmate rings. They were at least one of the reasons Jezebel's spells didn't work when you and Cleopatra were touching. I cannot just baptize you. You need instructions first, but by the end of this year, if you still want to, you should be able to join the Wizarding Christian Church. In the meanwhile, I will see if I can find you and Rose soulmate rings."
Saturday night January fourteenth there was the every-other week church service, and at that service a few of the Magi had their marriages blessed. Bishop Scherica also had soulmate rings for Scorpius and Rose, which he gave them, and blessed.
"The rings are reasonably rare," the bishop told the couple. "I would not have been able to procure them for you, except that we are concerned about what Scorpius's father is doing with him.
Monday Galadriel and Thorin met Albus and Cleo in their living room in Hogwarts.
"We have found four thrones in one of the caves in Switzerland that we have only just recently been able to examine. We also know that for hundreds of years at the start of the reign of Elves and Magi on earth there were no queens and kings. We know that the first four wands were important, but much of the history is missing or, in a few cases, contradictory."
"I'm not much in favour of becoming a king," Albus added. "I've been told we are fated to be the next king and queen, or crown prince and crown princess, of the Magi. What should we do?"
"Thorin and I are already that in all but name," Galadriel replied. "Names are important, though. What we are is custodians of the first wands. We have the first four wands, but they have not been inherited."
"Could we just be Custodians of the First Wands, then?" Albus wondered.
"Not right away," Galadriel replied. "There is too much magic tied to the next queens and kings. We think we can abdicate at some point and set up a different form of government where the holders of the first wands only hold the position and use them for a limited amount of time. Key to that is giving up the wand to your successor, voluntarily."
"I'm keeping this wand!" Cleo insisted, showing her first, unique bamboo and sandalwood wand.
Galadriel examined Cleo and the wand, and then told her, "I think this wand may be passed on mother to daughter, or to someone else, but probably not to one who holds the first wand of the Magi, Cleo. You may be unique in possessing both wands."
Cleo put the wand back into the wand pocket on her skirt.
"We are still looking at taking the Crystal Ball to Switzerland around Easter?" Albus asked.
"Yes, right now that is the plan," Galadriel replied. She then looked at Thorin.
Thorin told the group, "There are some prophesies that indicate that something that will involve the Goblins will happen before then, and that it involves Magi and the Goblin Elves. There are Goblin Elves involved in hidden and illegal activities and exposing them is risky and difficult."
The group spent two more days going over some of the legal and administrative work that would need to be done between the time Albus and Cleo took the Crystal Ball to Switzerland and the International Conference of Witches and Wizards.
2022