~
For the first time since Eleanora was nine years old, she was living with her father. It was odd having all of the remaining Marks' in one house, but strangely enough it didn't bother Eleanora. After her mother's death, she didn't want to reject the only parent she had left. All the same, she had trouble trusting Cillian after everything he'd done in the past. She settled for nearly-silent morning coffee with him when she came home from patrol duty everyday as a good medium. For the rest of the day, she would tactfully avoid her father, who spent most of his time with Daisy anyways. Nobody in the Order exactly trusted Cillian, but they were all willing to tolerate him for Daisy's sake.
Even after her mother's death, Daisy managed to stay cheerful. She somehow got everyone to smile just by entering the room, and she was persistent in her attempts to get the Order to like her father. "Look, Ellie, he's here now," she would say over and over again with a smile. "He's really not that bad."
Eleanora never argued with her sister. She would only shrug non-committedly and make up some excuse to not go downstairs. She was having a much harder time grappling with the reality of her mother's death. Over the last few weeks, she'd withdrawn almost completely into her bedroom. Really, the only person Eleanora wasn't avoiding was Bill.
"You okay?" he asked one morning, sneaking into her room when he got back from his patrol. Moody had separated Bill and Eleanora to "prevent distractions," so the couple saw each other even less than usual. With Bill at work during the day and both of them on patrol at night, they only got early mornings and evenings.
"Yeah, fine." Eleanora had a far-off look in her eyes and hardly even noticed when Bill climbed into bed next to her.
"Hey." Bill touched her arm lightly, snapping her out of her daze.
"Hey."
"What's up?" Bill leaned back on the pillows and clasped his hands together, looking at her in interest.
"Dunno." Eleanora leaned against his shoulder and closed her eyes. "What's up with you?"
"El..." Bill shifted so he was sitting cross-legged across from Eleanora. It reminded him of a time years and years ago when they sat under a tree at Hogwarts and talked about her home situation. That moment felt so far away. "What can I do?" he asked. "I know you're upset about your mum, and I'm here for you- but is there anything I can do to help?" He looked helpless. With other problems Eleanora had had, he'd always felt like he could actively do something to help. Now, he had no idea how to pull her out of her constant daze.
"No. I'm okay."
"I know you're not."
Eleanora shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair. "Yeah," she said quietly. "But it's alright."
"It's not." Bill was quiet for a long time. "Let's get out of here," he said at last.
"What?"
"Let's just go. You know, on a date or just to Shell Cottage or- anywhere. Anywhere you want. I'll take the day off work and- and we'll get all dressed up, and- let's just get out of here." He jumped off of the bed and grabbed Eleanora's hand, pulling her up. Eleanora stood hesitantly, but couldn't help smiling when Bill pulled her to his chest. "Wherever you want," he repeated before kissing her.
~
An hour later, they met in the entrance hall, both dressed in some of the best clothes they owned. Eleanora wore a pale purple dress she'd gotten on a shopping trip with Mrs. Weasley, and Bill wore a suit. He let out a low whistle when he saw Eleanora and took her hand to spin her around. "You knock me out, Marks."
"You're so cheesy," Eleanora said, but she couldn't help laughing.
"Where to?" Bill held onto her hand and looked at her expectantly.
Eleanora squared her shoulders, looking more confident than she had in weeks. "The botanical gardens, and out to dinner, and then the beach," she said resolutely. "The perfect date."
"Sounds like it," Bill said without a hint of sarcasm. "And who knows? Maybe the Order can do without us tonight." He winked.
"Come on, Weasley," Eleanora said with a grin. "Let's go look at trees."
Eleanora and Bill strolled through the London Botanical Gardens arm in arm, stopping every few feet to look at a particularly interesting plant or tree. It felt nice to get out of the dark, dingy Black house and into the muggle world, where nothing seemed to be wrong. "Look," Eleanora pointed at the next room, where a small pond of water housed tons of lily-pads. "My parents used to take me here when I was really little and- and I always loved this room..." Eleanora trailed off, lost in thought.
"That sounds wonderful." Bill leaned into her slightly. "Really, El."
"It was."
They stared at the water-lilies for a long time, letting the scattered crowd part around them. Then, at last, Eleanora squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. Bill looked down at her and was surprised to see that her eyes were clear and her mouth set in a determined line. Her gaze drifted up to him and she gave him a half smile. "Let's move on." She gestured to the next room. "I'm ready."
They stayed in the gardens until they closed, and then roamed out onto the London streets. Neither felt exactly like going to dinner yet, but they also didn't want to go back to Grimmauld Place. They roamed the streets hand in hand, taking in the sights and the new spring weather. All of a sudden, Eleanora stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. "Where do you want to go from here?" she asked, looking up at Bill in sudden seriousness.
"Ahh- I was thinking a nice restaurant-?"
"No, no," Eleanora's mouth twitched into a small smile. "Us. You and me. I mean... I dunno..." She trailed off, suddenly unsure. "Never mind. It doesn't- it doesn't matter."
"No, no, no," Bill said, eyes growing wide. They moved to the edge of the sidewalk, next to a darkened alley. "Of course it matters. We're- what we have is..." he trailed off, staring down at her with so much love in his eyes. He couldn't put into words the way he felt when he was with her.
"It's not like anything," Eleanora said softly, her lips parting in a small smile.
"Exactly."
They stood in silence for a long minute, and then Bill squinted slightly, as though examining her face. "Eleanora...." he said in an unsure voice. "Do you want to- I mean, will you-"
"Wait- what was that?" Eleanora interrupted, staring down the alley next to them. There had been a crash and Eleanora jumped, her hand immediately reaching for her wand. Bill started to step forward, but she put an arm out, pushing him behind her. "Who's there?" she called.
"It's probably just a raccoon or something..." but just then, a figure rose from behind the trash bins.
Neither Bill nor Eleanora had time to say anything before the figure pointed his wand and cried, "Crucio-"
"Stupefy!" Eleanora hit the figure with a stunning spell as Bill pulled her out of the way of the torturing curse.
"Impedimenta!" Bill shot an impediment jinx at the figure just for good measure.
"Come on." Eleanora started towards the now-limp figure, closely followed by Bill. He stood lookout just in case any more threats came as Eleanora knelt on the street and reached out shaking fingers to pull the mask off of the person. "I don't- I don't know who this is," Eleanora stammered, staring down at the face. "But- look- he's just a kid, Bill." Bill looked down and his forehead creased in concern.
"He looks just out of school."
"What do we do?"
Before they could make any decisions, there was a pop and Bill and Eleanora jumped, pointing their wands at the newcomer. Moody held up his hands. "At ease," he growled, a note of pride in his voice at their quick reactions. "What's happened here?"
"Just got attacked by some kid," Bill said, lowering his wand and looking at Moody in confusion. "What are you doing here?"
"Leave him." Moody gestured at the attacker to Bill and Eleanora's surprise. "We've got bigger problems."
Eleanora sprang to her feet. "What's happened?"
"Trouble at the Ministry. Department of Mysteries."
~
Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Tonks, Bill, Eleanora, and Kingsley burst through the doors of the Department of Mysteries, following the crashes and shouts until they found the source of the commotion. Neville Longbottom was on the ground, being tortured with the Cruciatus curse by Bellatrix Lestrange. Lucius Malfoy turned to face the group and was immediately hit by a stunning spell from Tonks.
Without thinking twice, Eleanora threw herself into battle. As she fought Death Eaters, their names flashed through her mind, followed by horrific memories from Malfoy Manor. Dolohov, Mulciber, Lestrange, Malfoy. She noticed Lupin fighting Macnair, and saw Dolohov shoot a curse right at his back. "Protego!" she shouted, deflecting the spell.
"Nice one, Marks!" Sirius said, appearing at her shoulder. She gave him a reluctant smile, amazed at how cheerful he could be mid-battle She could tell he was just excited to be out of the house for once. "Ah- that's Harry!" Sirius sprang off to push Harry's head down just in time to dodge a pair of stunning spells.
"Oi- pay attention!" Bill practically tackled her away from a red light that Eleanora was sure she didn't want to know the effect of.
"Hey!" she pushed him to the side and a green jet of light flew right between them. The couple made eye contact for a split second.
"Nice one," Bill said with a half smile.
Just then, there was a shout from across the room "DUMBLEDORE!" Neville cried, and Eleanora followed his gaze the the top of the steps, where Dumbledore was standing, looking absolutely furious.
Relief flooded her body. They were saved. Dumbledore sped down the steps past Neville and Harry and was already at the foot of the steps when the Death Eaters nearest realized he was there. There were yells; one of the Death Eaters ran for it, scrabbling like a monkey up the stone steps opposite. Dumbledore's spell pulled him back as easily and effortlessly as though he had hooked him with an invisible line —
Only one couple were still battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. Eleanora saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: He was laughing at her. "Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room. The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest. The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.
Eleanora stepped away from Bill, staring at Sirius's face. It seemed to take him an age to fall. His body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backward through the ragged veil hanging from thearch. . . .
Tears filled Eleanora's eyes as she heard Harry screaming his god-father's name over and over again.
At that moment, Dolohov took the chance to aim a spell right at Eleanora's back. It hit her square between the shoulders, and her last thought was strangely of Snape. Where was her god-father? Then, everything went black.
ummm first of all I'm sorry
also this is SO not the time, but I published the first two parts of the Sirius Black story that's been sitting in my drafts for months now
you should totally check it out ;)