2.| ✮𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮, 𝓑𝓲𝓵𝓵. ✮ {𝓑. 𝓦𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓵𝓮𝔂}

\𝓃𝒾𝓃ℯ𝓉ℯℯ𝓃\

"There's Circe, El. Looks like she's got a letter."

Circe landed gracefully, ruffling her feathers and sticking out her leg, to which a letter was fastened. Without a second look, Eleanora rushed to disconnect the envelope and tear it open. When she pulled out the letter, though, she was disappointed to see that it wasn't Bill's handwriting at all. It was her mother's.

Dear Eleanora
I'm sorry it took me so long to send you this letter. I should have done it a long time ago, but I wanted to give you time to cool off. Your father told me you managed everything very calmly, which of course I expected. You've always been able to keep a cool head in difficult situations. I want to apologize to you for everything. Not just last summer, not just the way I let Stephen treat you for years, I mean everything. I'm sorry for pitting you against your own father from such a young age. I'm sorry for not being there for you when you needed a mother. I'm sorry for making you take care of Daisy since the day she was born. I wish I had a good excuse for this, but all I can say is that I was hurting. I've never been good at dealing with pain, but that's no excuse for putting you through any of what I did. I've already spoken to your sister and I wish I could do the same for you in person. The explanation I owe you is too long for paper. Someday you and I will sit down and talk about everything, I promise.
For now, I just need you to know that I'm working everything out. After that night last summer, when I let you protect me from Stephen, I realized that something needed to change. I am so sorry and so thankful to you for that night. I would have died without you there. After a few days of recovery, I decided that Stephen needed to go. I called off the engagement and moved into your dad's house until I could get Stephen out of ours. I spent the rest of the summer cleaning up. Cleaning up myself, the house, everything. Stephen's gone now, and I feel like I'm seeing everything clearly for the first time. It wasn't fair to you for me to stay with him for so long. I realize now that you took on the weight of that for years.
I want to keep this conversation going. I owe you every explanation I can give you, Eleanora. I hope you'll be able to forgive me someday, and we can heal from this together. I promise you I'm trying. I love you so much.
Mom

"She's thankful for that night? You almost died!" Fred said angrily, reading over Eleanora's shoulder.

"She's making an effort." Eleanora tucked the letter into the pocket of her robes. "She's still got major issues, but she's trying."

"That's insane, Nora. She doesn't understand how difficult it's been for you-"

"She's my mum." Eleanora cut him off. "This is the best I've gotten from her in years, and I'll... I'll take what I can get." Fred and George looked at her wearily. Eleanora was always touchy when it came to talking about her family. The twins didn't bring it up much, but after seeing her the way she'd looked that summer, it was hard to let their friend accept anything from her mom. Eleanora didn't allow for any further discussion, though. She stood up, made an excuse about going to the library, and hurried out of the Hall.

~

That night, Cedric managed to sneak Eleanora into the Hufflepuff common room after everyone in his house was asleep. They sat curled up on a couch under a yellow knitted blanket, whispering so as not to wake anybody up. Eleanora noticed that the Hufflepuff common room wasn't quite as cozy as her own, but it was larger and airy, covered in plants that gave the place an earthy atmosphere.

"Did you know that there's usually a Christmas ball during Tournament years?" Eleanora said in an offhand voice.

"Yeah, Professor Sprout mentioned something about one. Why?" Cedric wound his fingers through her hair with a gentle smile.

Eleanora shifted so she was facing him, and laced her fingers through his. "Well... I'm a pretty good dancer..." she said pointedly.

"Mmmm, really?" Cedric ran his hand over her thigh absentmindedly.

"Cedric."

"I honestly don't know how to dance," he said with a rueful laugh. Eleanora's face lit up immediately and she jumped off of the couch.

"Come on, I'll teach you."

"No- wait, come back," he said, reaching for her.

She took his hands and pulled him up. "Come on, Diggory. Here, put your hands on my waist." She moved his hands down to where they were supposed to be.

"Like this?"

"Mmm." She positioned her own hands, and then started moving, guiding Cedric with her. He was awkward at first, not knowing where to step. "Just trust me," she whispered. "Follow what I do."

In no time, they were dancing around the common room to no music, listening only to the crackling fire and each other's breath. Eleanora  even got Cedric to twirl her a few times, usually ending in them both stumbling slightly and laughing.

Their steps got slower and slower until they were standing in the middle of the room, holding each other tightly.

"You're so beautiful, Eleanora," Cedric whispered, pulling her waist closer.

"This isn't... how dancing works," Eleanora said, her breath quickening as her lips drew closer to Cedric's.

"Mmm... I don't care."