2.| ✮𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮, 𝓑𝓲𝓵𝓵. ✮ {𝓑. 𝓦𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓵𝓮𝔂}

\\𝒪ℛ𝒟ℰℛ 𝒪𝒥 𝒯ℋℰ 𝒫ℋ𝒪ℰ𝒩ℐ𝒳\\

Four hours later, Eleanora woke to an empty bed. This was another thing that had happened almost every day that summer, but it never failed to make Eleanora's heart sink. She didn't know when Bill left her bed, but it was always sometime between her falling asleep and waking back up. Some mornings, she thought the bed still felt warm on the side where he laid, but she was never sure if she was just imagining it. Eleanora wished she'd never told Bill she wanted to wait. She knew she wasn't in the mindset for a relationship so soon after Cedric's death and she knew it had been the right decision, but she wanted Bill more than anything in the world. She couldn't get him off her mind. Every time they came into contact all summer, they both struggled to hide their ever-growing feelings for each other. It was getting hard to bear.

The most difficult thing was hiding whatever they had from Molly. They assumed she wouldn't take it very well when she found out Eleanora had chosen the oldest Weasley son over any of the other ones. The twins found it absolutely hilarious to watch Bill and Eleanora make awkward eye contact then immediately look away, blushing furiously, every time Molly brought up anything romantic. It happened more times than anyone had thought.

Eleanora got out of bed nearly a half an hour after waking up. It was always one of the hardest parts of the day. When she got down to the kitchen, already dressed in jeans and a t-shirt under a set of green robes, Remus Lupin was sitting at the dining room table with Mr. Weasley and Ginny.

"Ah, good morning Eleanora," Lupin said when she appeared in the doorway. "How are you?"

"Alright." Eleanora took a seat across from him and plucked a strawberry off of Ginny's plate. "You?"

"I'm doing well, thank you." Lupin had come to visit the Burrow on the second day of summer break to talk to Eleanora about the Order. He brought her to her first meeting at number 12 Grimmauld Place, the ancestral house of the Black family. The biggest shock had been finding out that Sirius Black was not the notorious criminal she thought he was. He'd been hiding out in Grimmauld Place, an innocent man with no way to prove it. Since then, most of the meetings had been conducted at the Burrow while Sirius worked to clean up Grimmauld Place. It was to be used as a last resort. A safe space if the Order needed one.

"Ready for the meeting tonight?" Mr. Weasley asked, noticing that Eleanora had been staring down at the table, lost in thought. Her head jerked up. One of the disadvantages of waking up throughout the night was that she was always, always tired.

"Yeah, I think so. I've got some... stuff- I've got to talk to talk to Moody about." Lupin's eyes flicked over to her. He was one of the few who knew the "stuff" Eleanora was talking about. She only shrugged and stood up, going to find the twins to help them with plans for their store while she waited for the meeting to begin.

~

"Are we all ready to begin?" Moody called over the noise in the living room of the Burrow. He waited a few seconds, and then cleared his throat loudly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to word that as a question. We're beginning now!" The room fell silent. Eleanora looked up from her spot next to Bill on the couch, struggling to refrain from laying her head on his shoulder and taking a nap.

"Right then," Moody growled. "First order of business..."

As the meeting progressed, Eleanora found herself zoning in and out of the conversation. She propped her chin on her knee and stared down at the rug, hearing the voices of the Order members but not really registering what they were saying. It was always the same stuff every meeting anyways. She was thinking of Bill, in a weird way almost looking forward to her nightmares just so she would get a moment alone with him. She looked over at his face. He was watching Moody intently, but his eyes were glazed over. On her other side, Tonks was discreetly morphing her hands into different shapes out of boredom. Eleanora focused her gaze on that until Tonks caught her and they shared a knowing smile. The two had grown into almost-friends that summer through the Order.