2.| ✮𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮, 𝓑𝓲𝓵𝓵. ✮ {𝓑. 𝓦𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓵𝓮𝔂}

\ℯ𝓁ℯ𝓋ℯ𝓃\

"That's good..." said George, chewing on the end of his quill. "We should have some more guests, too. Those are always fun."

"El?" Fred said, looking up at Eleanora expectantly.

She shook her head. "I'm on duty. What about Bill?"

"Yeah, we could get him," said George. "We could have him talk about international correspondences and getting neutral species on our side."

"No, no," Eleanora said, "We can't have people trying to convince neutral species like goblins. Bill says there's a really tricky way to do it... we can't have just anyone..."

"Well then we can have him talk about that. The right way to talk to neutral parties about the war, I mean," said Lee.

Eleanora nodded. It was odd to go this long with Lee and the twins without cracking a joke, but she also liked seeing them so invested in something. She knew Potterwatch was their way to feel involved in the action of the war, and she was more than willing to help them out.

As the day wore into night, the conversation strayed from the Order and Potterwatch. "I heard from Alicia Spinnet the other day," Lee said, tossing an apple into the air and catching it with ease.

"Really?" Eleanora looked up in interest. "I thought she was in hiding with her family."

"She is." Lee grinned at her, looking immensely proud of himself for being the reason Alicia had broken hiding. "But she wanted to check in on me, see how I was doing."

"Ohhhh," George said with a knowing smile. "Now that's a sure sign."

"So does this mean you'll stop 'moving on' with a new girl every week?" Eleanora asked, one eyebrow raised.

Lee gave a noncommittal laugh. "Oh, come off it, El. We're young! There's a war going on! Not all of us can just get married when we feel like it."

"You're just jealous," Eleanora said with a superior air, swiping the apple from Lee's hand and taking a bite. "

When Eleanora left the twins' apartment late that night after much protest from all three boys about her traveling home alone so late, she was finally feeling a sense of normalcy. The twins and Lee always made her feel young again, like they were all back in the Gryffindor common room discussing classes and what pranks to pull next. It was a nice feeling. She'd considered just spending the night, but she was excited to get home to Bill. She knew he'd try to wait up for her, but he really had been looking more tired lately and Eleanora always worried about him. He'd recovered fully from his illness of the year before, but he'd never fully gained the weight back or the life in his face. She never wanted to see him that sick again.

Eleanora strode quickly up Diagon Alley, planning on stopping at the Three Broomsticks to pick up some food to bring back to Shell Cottage, but before she could get there, a figure jumped out from Knockturn Alley and, forgoing all magic, slammed his elbow into the side of her head. Eleanora crumpled to the ground, half from pain and half from shock. For a split second, she was frozen, unable to react in any way at all.

The figure leapt over her and pulled out his wand, his hood slipping back to reveal mangy brown hair and beady eyes. It was Antonin Dolohov, one of the Death Eaters who had originally tortured her at Malfoy Manor. In the past, Eleanora would've cowered in fear upon seeing one of her old attackers, but she felt stronger now. She'd endured hardships greater than getting jumped by a Death Eater by the time she was eleven years old.

Eleanora snapped out of the daze and whipped her wand out of her pocket, putting up a protection spell just in time. As Dolohov tried to get through it with spells of his own, Eleanora recovered enough to pull herself to her feet. "Stupefy!" The spell was blocked a ricocheted ou of sight.

The duel picked up, one on one for the first time, and Eleanora finally felt like she was at an advantage in a fight. Dolohov seemed to be at the same skill-level as her, maybe even less, and Eleanora managed to hold her ground even with an injured head. She cast spells left and right, defending herself against Dolohov's spells and sending her own flying at him at rapid-fire speed.

Finally, Eleanora noticed that Dolohov seemed to be getting tired. "Locomotor Mortis!" she cried, sending a jet of purple light straight at him, hitting him square in the legs. They seized up and Dolohov toppled over backwards onto the snow. Eleanora let out a triumphant laugh and pushed her hair out her eyes. Her hand came away wet and in the light of the street lamp, she could tell it was blood. She sighed and wiped it away on her jeans, then pulled out the little communicator advice she shared with the rest of the Order. "Got one," she sent out in code, "Diagon. Come quick. Leaving scene." Then, casting one last satisfied look at Dolohov, she turned on her heel and apparated back to Shell Cottage before Lupin sent the aurors to retrieve him.

When she let herself into the house, Bill was sitting in the living room with a book. When he saw Eleanora, he jumped up and hurried over to her. "I saw the message- are you- what happened?"

"It's fine," Eleanora said, wetting a rag and beginning to dab it onto the cut at the top of her head. "Little skirmish."

Bill let out a frustrated sigh and took the rag from Eleanora, gently moving her hair out of the way and helping her wipe the blood away. "That's been happening more often," he said in a dreading voice. "You sure you're alright?"

"I'm okay," Eleanora said softly. "Just got hit pretty hard in the head. Other than that, I won."

"I figured." Bill finished with her injury and set the rag back on the counter, tilting Eleanora's chin up gently with his hand. "You always do."