2.| ✮𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮, 𝓑𝓲𝓵𝓵. ✮ {𝓑. 𝓦𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓵𝓮𝔂}

\𝓃𝒾𝓃ℯ𝓉ℯℯ𝓃\

None of them said a word as they wandered down the familiar corridors, wearing only their socks on their feet so their steps wouldn't make a sound. They were used to the feeling of sneaking out by now, always listening for footsteps and making sure they had places to hide, but the atmosphere of the school in the middle of the night never got old. Eleanora loved the silence of the castle when nobody was around, when she and her friends were free to wander wherever they wanted. She glided airily down the hallway and then, filled with sudden joy, ran and jumped onto Fred's back, holding back laughter when he caught her and spun her around. She wrapped her arms around Fred's neck and watched as George ran ahead of them and skidded across the newly polished floor in his socks like an ice skater. It felt like she was back in her fourth year, dancing through the castle late at night with her best friends in the whole world. She jumped down off of Fred's back, catlike, and grabbed one of his hands, taking his shoulder with the other. Together they waltzed down the hall towards George. When they made it to the end, Fred twirled Eleanora around dramatically and then dipped her, coming very close to dropping her on the hard floor. George reached out instinctively to help catch her, and when she was stable on her feet, she looked up at the twins, who were looking down at her with effervescent faces. Without thinking twice, she pulled them both into a group hug, holding them as tightly as she could.

"I love you guys," she whispered into the middle of their little triangle.

"Awwwww," said George, pulling Fred and Eleanora tighter into his embrace. "We love you too."

"Yeah," Fred said. "I love you both," and when they pulled apart, his eyes looked brighter than before. Eleanora looked at her boys affectionately for a moment, full of love and a bittersweet sadness, knowing that next year they'd be sneaking around without her. She couldn't think about it.

"Race you," she whispered with a sly smile, and took off down the next corridor, Fred and George close at her heels.

~

"We could ask Dad to say something. They see each other at work everyday," George said. He was staring down at an unfinished letter to Ludo Bagman.

Fred shook his head. "We don't want to bring Dad into this. He's stressed out enough as is."

"Well then what do you suppose we do?" Eleanora asked, exasperated.

Fred looked thoughtful. "Dunno, we could always threaten to kill him."

"Fred! That's not funny!"

"I didn't say we actually kill him. We just threaten it. You know, scare him a bit." Fred looked back and forth between Eleanora and George. Neither seemed impressed.

"We'd get in trouble, Fred-"

"I know," Fred looked more agitated than Eleanora had ever seen him. "I just want him to uphold his end of the bet. It's ridiculous, it's not like he doesn't have the money."

"And we won fair and square!" George chimed in.

Eleanora sighed and grabbed the letter out of George's hand. They only had a few sentences written, all of which would need revised. "Let's just finish this letter and see what happens." She folded it carefully and put it back in her bag. "But first, we all need breakfast." She pulled a large dish of scrambled eggs towards them and started dishing them onto hers and the twins' plates.

"Mail's here," George said hopefully. "Maybe today we'll get a response."

"Don't count on it," Eleanora said, but she stared up at the stream of owls too, trying to pick out Circe. She tried not to get her hopes up, but she couldn't help but hope for a letter from Bill. Her heart soared when Fred pointed to the large brown owl gliding towards them.