Albus Potter, Friends and Foes

Ch 6 Post Mature Marriages

"She began to wait and worry, so they wedded in a hurry." Thanks to my great beta readers again, for catching my mistakes.

*

It was the Monday after the announcement about the change in the class schedule. Rose and Cleopatra were just entering the Gryffindor common room, shortly before the ten o'clock curfew. Rose and Scorpius were some of the hardest working students at Hogwarts, with Albus and Cleo right behind. Albus may have known almost all of the magic, but he had to tutor Cleo, who almost always performed the magic a little differently. As a result, most evenings Rose and Cleo did not arrive in the commons room until shortly before curfew.

Nan Roberts, one of the seventh year Gryffindor girls, spotted Cleo. "Cleo, you have made scents for Macario and me. We are engaged, well, we will be. I'm trying to get my parents to sign formal engagement papers, and Macario is trying to get his parents to as well. We want to marry over Christmas."

"You are a good couple," Cleo confirmed. "What is the problem."

"Carrie is pregnant, and she and my brother Bert are going to get married over Christmas and move into the rooms for couples next to the Gryffindor commons room. I understand that Professor Longbottom and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Potter used those rooms right after the Battle of Hogwarts.

"It is NOT FAIR that Carrie gets pregnant and they can move in together, but I do the right thing and take birth control potions and I cannot openly sleep with Macario!"

Rose looked down at her feet. Rose was rather sure that what Nan was talking about didn't have much to do with sleeping, but was something else you normally did it in bed.

Nan put her hands on her hips, and then pointed both of them at Cleo. "You talk to the headmistress. You and Albus seem to know her." Wagging her fingers right at Cleo she continued, "Tell her, convince her, that if our parents let us marry, we ought to be living together."

Cleo sat down and tried to figure out what to do. She was all for Magi marrying, all for the physical side of marrying, and really wished she and Albus could sleep together, or more. She looked at Nan. "You do not want to become pregnant, Nan?"

"NO!" Nan yelled. "Well, eventually, I do, actually, especially when I see you, but not yet! Macario and I have plans, and we are not going to be ready for a child for a few years."

Cleo looked at Nan. All this made perfect sense, if you were thinking like Albus or some of the other adults. It didn't make a lot of sense to her, in her gut, emotionally, for her, but she had been working very hard not to project the need to become pregnant right away to the other witches. Mum Potter had explained how getting married and especially becoming pregnant too early was a problem. Mum Potter also admitted that, although she and Mr. Potter had to marry early because of some unusual circumstances having to do with how he defeated Tom Riddle, and she wanted to be married, they otherwise would have probably waited a year.

At the same time, Cleo was all for the kind of union of bodies that being married involved. That was, usually, very good at least. She had examined enough happily married couples to get some feeling how special it was to, as the Christians put it, "become one flesh."

Cleo quietly muttered, "I will talk to Albus. Maybe we can say something to Professor McGonagall."

*

The next morning Cleo tried to explain the situation to Albus. Albus knew that his parents had roomed together his mother's last year at Hogwarts, and his mother was not pregnant with James for several years. He had to admit that Cleo was making a reasonably good argument, so that evening they met with the headmistress.