2.| ✮𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮, 𝓑𝓲𝓵𝓵. ✮ {𝓑. 𝓦𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓵𝓮𝔂}

\\𝒢𝒪ℬℒℰ𝒯 𝒪ℱ ℱℐℛℰ\\

"Yes, me," said Cillian, pressing the number four button on the elevator. "She's giving me a second chance, Eleanora, and-"

"Save it," Eleanora interrupted. She wasn't in the mood for one of her parents' redemption speeches. She just wanted to see her little sister.

~

"Shhh, she's sleeping."

Eleanora and Cillian crept into the little shared hospital room. The boy in the bed next to Daisy had a broken leg elevated. Eleanora crept past him without looking and headed straight for her sister's bed. Daisy's golden blonde curls spread across the pillow and her pale face was rested in sleep. Eleanora bent over the girl, placing a hand on her cheek. There was a gash in Daisy's lip and she had a black eye. Her face reminded Eleanora of all the times she'd looked in the mirror back when she lived at her muggle mother's home. It made her heart pound and sweat accumulated on her hands. She sank into the chair next to the bed, taking her sister's hand and looking up at Cillian.

"What exactly is wrong with her?"

"Two broken ribs, that's all. It would be an easy fix at St. Mungo's, but here, they said it would take a few weeks." He stared down at his daughters and was suddenly overcome with regret for not doing more for them over the years. He knew Eleanora wouldn't want to hear his apologies though. Not now, at least.

She turned back to Daisy, who had stirred in her sleep. "Daisy-flower, it's me."

Daisy's eyes fluttered open, and then grew wide with shock. "Eleanora?"

Eleanora chewed on her lower lip and nodded. "I'm here, love. How are you feeling?" She ran a finger through the messy blonde curls. Daisy's face broke into a smile.

"I feel fine," she said, and tried to sit up, but winced and lay back on the pillows.

"Don't try and sit up," Eleanora said in a motherly tone. "You need to rest." She continued to comb her fingers through her sister's hair.

Cillian stood up. "I'll wait outside." He left the room.

Daisy reached over and took Eleanora's hand back, squeezing it. "Daddy's going to let me stay with him," she said softly, looking to her older sister for approval. Eleanora nodded slowly.

"That's probably for the best." Then suddenly, Eleanora's eyes welled up with tears. "I'm sorry Daisy, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you there, it's all my fault." She buried her face in her free hand and wiped furiously at her eyes.

"It's not your fault," Daisy said in a reasonable voice. "It's not anybody's fault. And it's okay now, I get to live with Daddy now." She gave Eleanora a comforting pat on the shoulder.

Eleanora laughed a little. "Yeah... yeah, you're right. It'll all be okay now." She squeezed Daisy's hand tighter. "And I swear to you, I'll never leave you alone in that house again ever. I'm going to make sure you're safe from here on out."

"You've always made sure I'm safe. This was just one time," Daisy said sweetly.

Eleanora stayed in the hospital for a long time after that. She finished combing Daisy's hair and braided it back in a single plait to keep it out of her sister's eyes. They talked like they used to in Eleanora's bed before they went to sleep. Eleanora told her all about school and everything Daisy had to look forward to, and Daisy told her everything that had happened at home in the time Eleanora had distanced herself. Finally, a nurse came in and said Daisy needed to rest. Eleanora stood up and kissed Daisy on the forehead.

"I'll come back and visit as much as I can, alright? And I'll visit you at Dad's later this summer too." Daisy nodded contentedly, already dozing off.

When Eleanora got out to the waiting room, Cillian was nowhere to be found. She walked over to a group of chairs in the corner and collapsed into one, pulling her legs up to her chest and burying her face in her knees. Her hair fell around her face, obscuring her vision. She sat like that for what felt like a longer time than it was until finally, a voice above her said, "How'd that go?"

Eleanora looked up at Cillian, who was holding two large to-go cups of coffee. She took one and sipped it gratefully. The sun was just starting to go down outside.

"It's all my fault, Dad," she whispered, staring distraughtly into space. Cillian sat in the chair next to her, carefully setting his coffee down on the side table.

"Listen to me, Eleanora. It is not your fault. You didn't choose for your mother to date such a ruddy git. If anything, it's my fault. I should've been there for you girls all those years." Eleanora didn't disagree with him. She just nodded and continued to stare off into the distance. Cillian sat back in his seat, losing focus as well.

"Thank you," Eleanora said finally, her voice so soft it was barely audible. "Thank you for letting her stay with you."

Cillian took a long sip of coffee and cradled the cup close to his chest. "It's the very least I can do," he said sadly. Just then, Eleanora seemed to snap out of her daze.

"I've got something I need to take care of," she said, getting up.

"Eleanora, wait-"

She turned to him, standing tall and lifting her chin up in confidence. "Dad, I'm almost an adult in wizard law, and I need to do this."

"You're going to your mum's house, aren't you?" Eleanora nodded silently, not dropping her gaze. "How are you planning on getting there?" Cillian asked, hoping to reason her out of doing this.

"I'll take the bus."

"And what are you planning on doing when you get there?"

"Not sure, but Daisy tells me she gets out of the hospital next week, so if you don't hear from me before then, I'll be there to help move her into your house."

"Eleanora..."

"I'll see you then, Dad," she said, striding back over and bending down to give her father a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks again for everything, tell Daisy I love her. See you soon."

welcome welcome

thanks for reading the first chapter :)

super extra special announcement 4(ish?) years after finishing this book!

[yes this is basically copy-pasted from the prequel, if u saw it there, continue onwards!]

i appreciate any and all interactions OF COURSE but i wanna clear a few things up as you venture into reading based on frequent comments i get (just to avoid confusion etc etc doing due diligence all that stuff)

- somehow while writing this book i consistently messed up daisy's age (like, she'll be 5 and then 12 or smth idk i haven't read my own work), and idk how it happened i swear i literally did math on a piece of paper, but it truly makes no sense to me so just know i am aware + it's not getting fixed [doesn't rly affect much, just roll with it she's whatever age they say she is at any given time every childhood age is the same]

- some details aren't gonna totally align with cannon, nothing major just little details + again, i'm aware but 100% never fixing it

- this is the second book in a series (of two. idk... a couplet??). u are more than welcome to start here!! you'll catch on!! just know that the first book (dear bill,) is basically a prequel, so if you're confused about something, it's probably explained there (unless it's daisy's age, i got nothing for that). totally up to you if u wanna read the prequel first, or skim it, or read it after, or not read it at all, just be forewarned that SOME things won't make sense until a few chapters in

literal indescribable amounts of love to anyone who even clicks on any of my work, and i'm not trying to control comments or anything, it's just been 4 years of "wait wasn't daisy 5-" (valid point btw), and i figured it was easier to explain in one (albeit too long) message at the very beginning

ANYWAY- THANK YOU! for starting to read my book, i hope you continue, i promise this is the longest author's message you will ever see from me i mostly go away after this, MUCH LOVE!