~
"And... you stir the flour in- Fred!" Eleanora shrieked as Fred dumped the bag of flour everywhere, enveloping the entire kitchen in a white cloud.
"Whoops." Fred didn't sound too sorry. He and George were bent double laughing, waving through the flour clouding the air. Eleanora scoffed and shook her hair out to no avail. Trying to teach the twins to bake Christmas cookies without magic was no easy feat. They'd spent the entire afternoon marveling over every step, making more mess than anything else.
Mrs. Weasley chose that moment to check their progress, and choked the minute she entered the kitchen. "What- on earth-"
At this, Eleanora burst into laughter with the twins. "Sorry, Mrs. Weasley," Eleanora half-coughed. "We'll clean it up."
"You'd better." Mrs. Weasley hurried out of the kitchen shaking flour out of her curls as she went. Eleanora and the twins leaned against the counter, half-laughing half-coughing before Eleanora waved her wand and swept the flour back into the bag.
"You two... are the worst at baking," Eleanora said, wiping at her eyes. She jumped as the front door opened, and in walked Bill carrying a trunk, followed closely by Daisy. "Dais!" Eleanora leapt towards her little sister and threw her arms around her. "You're back!"
"I'm back!" Daisy giggled and hugged her sister back, and then ran at the twins, wrapping her arms around George's waist with such force, he was knocked backwards a few feet.
While George hugged Daisy back and Fred lifted her up onto the counter to let her help with the cookies, Eleanora moved to wrap her arms around Bill's neck and trail her fingers through the ends of his hair. "Thanks for getting her from my dad's," she said, smiling up at him with loving eyes. Daisy had spent the first few days of her Christmas break at Cillian's but asked to come to the Burrow for the actual holidays.
Bill leaned down to kiss her, stumbling slightly and catching himself against Eleanora's waist. "No problem, love."
Eleanora's face quickly changed to worry. "How was the appointment?"
"It went fine," Bill said gently. "The healers say I'm their favorite patient."
"Course you are," Eleanora laughed, stepping out of his grasp. "Come on, I'm trying to teach those two to make cookies."
She led him back into the kitchen where Fred, George, and Daisy were now drawing pictures in a pile of flour still sitting on the counter. While they entertained themselves, Bill and Eleanora took over the actual baking. They both knew their mother's recipes off by heart, and collaborated to make some combination of the two.
Over the last month, Bill had grown even thinner and more tired than ever, but he never lost his gentle demeanor. He also never complained, so Eleanora found herself constantly asking him how he was feeling. His health hadn't taken any dramatic turns for the worse since the diagnosis, but there had definitely been a steady decline. Eleanora felt a little stab in her heart every time she noticed the ever-darkening shadows under his eyes, the way he couldn't seem to gain weight, the way he sometimes had difficulty breathing even when doing simple tasks. She knew she needed to keep a brave face for him, though. If he was going to stay strong through whatever happened, she needed to too.
Instead of focusing on the deterioration of Bill, Eleanora started noticing little subtle changes in Daisy. Her little sister had always been the quiet one, shy at first and very non-confrontational. When she was really little, it was rare that Daisy ever spoke. Now, sitting on the kitchen counter, she was absolutely alive. She'd braided her hair a different way and she was sitting straighter, her smile lighting up her entire face. Eleanora caught Bill's eye and grinned, knowing that he'd noticed it too. Daisy was growing up, and they both felt at least a little responsible for the bright, smart girl sitting in front of them, laughing hysterically at one of George's jokes.
~
On Christmas Eve day, the entire Burrow was buzzing with life. Ginny and Daisy were hard at work decorating the entire house in lavish handmade decorations, the twins helping them levitate paper snowflakes and charming mistletoe to follow Bill and Eleanora wherever they went. Harry, Ron, and Hermione kept huddling in the corners of various rooms, whispering urgently and trying very hard to look nonchalant. It didn't fool anyone, but everyone was in too high spirits to ask what was wrong.
Bill and Eleanora spent most of the day in the kitchen with Mrs. Weasley, helping her make the annual Weasley Christmas Eve feast. Christmas music played softly in the background from the enchanted speaker and every few minutes Mrs. Weasley would sing a line or two, looking affectionately at her son and daughter-in-law-to-be. Bill, Eleanora, and the twins had all agreed not to tell anyone about Bill's illness until after the holidays. Eleanora couldn't bear to think about how Mrs. Weasley would react, and wasn't looking forward to breaking the news. She felt guilty every time she looked at Mrs. Weasley. Bill, on the other hand, seemed to be having a great time. He kept dancing around to the music as he cooked, laughing at all of his mother's quips about his lack of skill in both cooking and dancing.
At around five, there was a knock on the door and Mrs. Weasley dropped her stirring spoon into the pot. "Whoever that is, they're early," she said, looking dismayed.
"I'll get it," said Eleanora. She passed by Bill, touching him lightly on the shoulder, and dusted her hands off on her jeans before opening the door.
Cillian was standing in the snow, looking slightly apprehensive. "Dad, hey." Eleanora stepped aside so her father could come into the warm house. Mrs. Weasley had only invited Cillian per Daisy's request, but she and Eleanora had made it pretty clear that they didn't exactly agree with the arrangement.
"Merry Christmas," Cillian said, stomping snow off of his boots on the welcome mat. "Here, these are for you..." He handed her a small stack of wrapped packages. "And these ones are for Daisy- where is she?"
"Thanks." Eleanora set the gifts down on the table. "Dais!" she called into the living room.
"What?"
"Dad's here!"
Daisy dashed out of the room to hug Cillian. "Hey, kid," Cillian laughed. "Hope I'm not too early.
"A bit," Eleanora said at the same time as Daisy said "You're not at all!" Daisy led the girls' father into the living room to look at the decorations while Eleanora went back to the kitchen.
"Who was it, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked, slicing potatoes into wedges.
"My dad," said Eleanora. Mrs. Weasley made a low humming noise and sliced the knife even faster.
Over the next hour or so, the Burrow housed tons of visitors, but only Lupin stayed for dinner. Mrs. Weasley had tried to convince Tonks to stay as well, but she insisted on going to her parent's house. The whole group gathered around the dining room table, chattering loudly and eating the delicious food Mrs. Weasley, Eleanora, and Bill had spent all day making. Eleanora sat between Bill and Lupin, she and the twins keeping everyone entertained with stories of their adventures at Hogwarts.
"Ahhh, and now it all comes out," Lupin said, laughing at their story about dung-bombing the teacher's lounge during Eleanora's sixth year. "I always wondered who that was."
Fred snickered. "Well, did we ever tell you that was all a cover up for how we-"
"Oh, stop it you three," Mrs. Weasley called from the other side of the table. "You'll give Daisy bad ideas."
"She's already got them," George said with a snort. "Did you hear about the time she-" He cut off as Daisy kicked him swiftly under the table. "Passed- her- Herbology exam," he choked out, convincing nobody.
"No, go back," Bill said, sounding thoroughly amused. "What's Daisy getting up to?"
Daisy shot him a killer glare and then nodded pointedly at Cillian and Mrs. Weasley. "I'll tell you later," she said through gritted teeth. Eleanora and Bill broke into silent laughter as Cillian looked over in mild interest.
"Bill, you need to eat more," Mrs. Weasley changed the subject. "You just keep getting thinner, I don't know what to do about it."
Eleanora's smile faded and she put a hand on Bill's leg under the table. "I'm fine, Mum," Bill said in a convincing tone. "Everything's really good, really." This set off the rest of the table, all complimenting Mrs. Weasley's cooking and taking the attention off of Bill. Under the table, Bill's hand found Eleanora's and he squeezed it three times. I love you.
After dinner, Mrs. Weasley gathered everyone into the living room to listen to a Christmas special by Celestina Warbeck. Eleanora curled up on the couch next to Bill and watched the twins start a game of exploding snap with Ginny and Daisy. Lupin sat close by, right in front of the fire. He was looking almost as sickly as Bill, and was staring deep into the flames as though he wasn't aware of anything else in the room. Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to notice this. She was completely lost in the music. "Oh, we danced to this when we were eighteen!" she said to Mr. Weasley, wiping at her eyes.
"Hm?" Mr. Weasley looked up. "Oh yes... marvelous tune..."
On the other side of the room, Eleanora was surprised to see that her father was deep in conversation with Hermione, who was sitting on the floor with her back to the seat where Ron and Harry were sitting. Eleanora couldn't help thinking that it was sort of nice. Having her entire family in one place, with everyone looking happy. She rested her head on Bill's shoulder and ran her fingers absentmindedly over his hand.
She looked up at Mr. Weasley and Harry the second she caught Snape's name in their conversation. "Has it occurred to you, Harry," Mr. Weasley was saying, "that Snape was simply pretending-?"
"Pretending to offer help, so that he could find out what Malfoy's up to?" said Harry quickly. "Yeah, I thought you'd say that. But how do we know?"
"It isn't our business to know," said Lupin unexpectedly. He had turned his back on the fire and now faced Harry across Mr. Weasley. "It's Dumbledore's business. Dumbledore trusts Severus, and that ought to be good enough for all of us."
"But," said Harry, "just say — just say Dumbledore's wrong about Snape —"
"People have said it, many times. It comes down to whether or not you trust Dumbledore's judgment. I do; therefore, I trust Severus."
"But Dumbledore can make mistakes," argued Harry. "He says it himself. And you" — he looked Lupin straight in the eye — "do you honestly like Snape?"
"I neither like nor dislike Severus," said Lupin. "No, Harry, I am speaking the truth," he added, as Harry pulled a skeptical expression. "We shall never be bosom friends, perhaps; after all that happened between James and Sirius and Severus, there is too much bitterness there. But I do not forget that during the year I taught at Hogwarts, Severus made the Wolfsbane Potion for me every month, made it perfectly, so that I did not have to suffer as I usually do at the full moon."
"But he 'accidentally' let it slip that you're a werewolf, so you had to leave!" said Harry angrily.
Lupin shrugged. "The news would have leaked out anyway. We both know he wanted my job, but he could have wreaked much worse damage on me by tampering with the potion. He kept me healthy. I must be grateful."
"Maybe he didn't dare mess with the potion with Dumbledore watching him!" said Harry.
"You are determined to hate him, Harry," said Lupin with a faint smile.
"And I understand; with James as your father, with Sirius as your godfather, you have inherited an old prejudice. By all means tell Dumbledore what you have told Arthur and me, but do not expect him to share your view of the matter; do not even expect him to be surprised by what you tell him. It might have been on Dumbledore's orders that Severus questioned Draco."
Eleanora frowned. She had never pretended Snape was perfect. She knew he had an unfair bias against most Gryffindors, Harry especially, but he had also taken care of her during her time at Hogwarts. He'd taught her everything she knew about potions, and was always the first to stick up for her. She knew he wasn't great, but he was one of the only adults she'd ever been able to trust.
"Hey," Bill said, moving to put an arm around her shoulders. The way he looked at her, it was like he could read Eleanora's thoughts. "He's on our side. That's what matters."
"Yeah," Eleanora said, cuddling closer into his side. She didn't want to deal with whatever conflicting feelings people had towards her godfather right at that moment. She just wanted to enjoy the time she had with Bill in the cozy living room of the Burrow with all of the people she loved.