~
Over the course of the next month, Bill, Eleanora, and the rest of the Order fell into a new routine. Most of the members went back to their day jobs, trying their hardest to keep up appearances, and smaller meetings were held in secret. Eleanora spent most of her time at either Shell Cottage, Lupin and Tonks' house, and Auntie Muriel's place where the rest of the Weasleys were hiding.
At the end of the summer, Eleanora and Bill accompanied Mrs. Weasley in taking Ginny and Daisy back to King's Cross Station to send them back to school. There had been an ongoing debate between the adults of the house as to whether or not they should go back at all, but eventually Ginny and Daisy stepped in and both insisted on finishing out the school year. Eleanora hated the idea of Daisy going back to a school where Snape was the headmaster. She knew it could either keep her sister safer, or put a target on her back, and she didn't want to take that risk. "She can take care of herself," Bill would say every time Eleanora brought it up. "She's stronger than we all give her credit for."
Eleanora thought the opposite might be true. Of course her sister was strong, but she was also twelve years old. The Order tended to treat her as an equal because of how mature she acted, but Eleanora knew how scared she must be on the inside. Daisy and Ginny had told them all about the changes made at Hogwarts that year and it broke Eleanora's heart knowing Daisy would never have the same experiences she did. It just added one more reason Eleanora knew the Order had to win the war.
"What are you thinking about?" Bill asked after a long, drawn out silence over dinner at Shell Cottage one night in mid-September.
Eleanora jumped, her eyes moving from the window to Bill's serious face. "I haven't heard from Daisy in a few days is all."
Bill nodded, worry growing in his expression. "I'm sure she's fine, maybe she's just busy. I'll ask Mum if she's heard anything."
"Thanks." The lapsed back into silence and picked at their food. Both were too caught up in their own thoughts for conversation, but Eleanora sort of liked how they could have comfortable silence together. "Has anyone heard from Harry and Ron and Hermione?"
Bill shook his head. "As far as we know they're still at Grimmauld. Nobody wants to check in on them, though, because-"
"-we could all be getting tracked," Eleanora murmured. "I hate this."
Bill noticed how tightly Eleanora was squeezing her fork in her hand and her reached across the table to gently wrap his own hand around her fist. "It'll be okay. We'll all get through this."
Eleanora gazed at him with solemn eyes. "You don't know that."
"No, you're right. I don't." The worry grew in his eyes as he retracted his hand and went back to picking through the stew he and Eleanora had made together. "When's the next meeting?"
"Lupin and I were just talking about that-" Eleanora broke off as someone knocked on the door. Despite the fact that only Lupin, Tonks, and Mr. Weasley had the ability to see the house under the Fidelius charm, Eleanora and Bill were always apprehensive anytime someone knocked on their door. They stared across the table at each other for a split second and then Eleanora rose from her seat, saying, "I'll get it." Bill drew his wand and followed her.
"Identify yourself!" he called through the door.
There was a pause, and then a familiar voice outside said, "It's Charlie Weasley, and I can prove it by telling you all about the time you wet yourself on the-" Bill took two long strides past Eleanora and flung the door open.
"Let's not do that," he said, pulling his brother into a tight embrace.
When Bill released Charlie, Eleanora stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, whispering, "You'll tell me that story later, right?" in his ear.
Charlie laughed and let Eleanora go. "It's a good one," he said, winking at her. Bill pushed her shoulder lightly and then led the way to the kitchen.
"What on earth are you doing here?" Eleanora asked, pulling an extra bowl down from the shelf and filling it with soup.
Charlie slid into a spare seat at the table and Bill and Eleanora joined him, neither of them touching their food. "I've been home all weekend," Charlie said before taking a bite of stew.
"What?!" Eleanora and Bill said at the same time before catching each other's eye and smiling.
Charlie looked back and forth between them with raised eyebrows and a small smile for a moment and then swallowed the bite. "This is really good," he said, pointing to the bowl. "Anyways, I had to catch up with some people to talk about Order stuff."
"What kind of Order stuff?" Eleanora asked, immediately intrigued.
"Top secret."
"Charlie! I'm literally one of the main members." Eleanora was still proud of herself for reaching this status. At their last meeting, she'd tried to back out of a mission to make it easier on the others, and Lupin and Kingsley had looked at her like she was insane. She was a leader. The Order had become a full time job.
"I'm sure Lupin can tell you," said Charlie. "I actually have to leave in a little. Dad gave me the copy of your address he had so I could stop in, but I told my boss I'd be back tonight."
"No, Charlie," Eleanora said, drawing out his name. "At least stay the night."
"Yeah, we've got a spare room," said Bill, but Charlie was adamant.
"I promise I'll visit more often," he said, setting his fork down and pulling one leg to his chest, setting his foot on the seat of his chair. "After the war's over."
Eleanora sighed. "When will that be?" Neither Bill nor Charlie had an answer for her.
Thankfully, after that, the topic of conversation strayed from the war to the things they all used to like to talk about before the events of the last few years happened. Charlie and Eleanora could go on for hours about quidditch together and Bill just sat back and let them. It was one of the many things he loved about Eleanora; how close she was with his family. She treated Charlie like an older brother and Bill adored seeing how her expressions changed every other second when discussing the ups and downs of the recent national quidditch season. To Eleanora, quidditch was one of the only things that had always stayed consistent in her life.
Finally, an hour after Charlie said he had to go, he checked his watch and jumped. "Shit! El, you're making me late." He picked up his bowl and ruffled Eleanora's hair on the way over to the sink.
"I wish you could stay for longer," Eleanora said as she and Bill stood up to follow Charlie. She loved spending all of her time with Bill, but she missed the constant stream of friends she was used to at the Burrow or Hogwarts or even Grimmauld Place. She never mentioned it to Bill, but she got lonely when he went to work.
Charlie set his bowl down in the sink and turned to wrap Eleanora up in a tight hug. "I know. I promise I'll get out here more often."
"You'd better," said Bill. "And tell us next time instead of popping in for the last hour of your trip." He pulled Charlie into a hug as soon as he let Eleanora go. Eleanora leaned against the counter and watched the brothers with a small smile. When they broke apart, Bill stepped back and settled an arm around her shoulder.
After Charlie left, Bill and Eleanora went to bed and laid awake, talking in soft voices about the Order. They usually tried to keep the war separate from their lives at Shell Cottage. The cottage was supposed to be a place to escape all of the horrible things happening in the world, where people could go to recover. Eleanora and Bill tried as hard as they could to keep it that way, but it was growing increasingly more difficult to keep discussions about the worsening state of the wizarding world out of their home. "Did you hear about Mykew Gregorovitch?" Eleanora asked, her head resting on Bill's chest.
"Mhmmm. Six disappearances in the last week." Bill closed his eyes. "I've been thinking a lot about Ron."
"What about him?"
"I'm worried," said Bill. "I think they're getting themselves into more than even they can handle."
Eleanora felt his hand on her waist tense up slightly as he spoke. She trailed her fingers gently over his shoulder. "I know," she said simply. "I know, love."
She felt Bill's grip loosen as he relaxed slightly. "I just don't know if they understand exactly how dangerous it is. And- and I just wish I could protect them. All of them, really. And you." He took a deep breath, as though he was finally getting something off his chest. "I wish I could just take all the people I love and- and take them away from here. To anywhere, really. Just not here."
"I would like that," said Eleanora, smiling into Bill's chest. "But I think Ron, Harry, and Hermione know what they're doing. I think they have a plan."
"I just wish they would accept help." Eleanora hated how defeated Bill sounded. He was trying so hard to keep everyone safe, but it was an uphill battle.
She reached down and her hand found his in the dark. "Maybe they're thinking the same thing as you. That they don't want to bring the people they love into danger. I think we should just trust them."
Bill's chest rose and fell slowly as his mind grew foggy with tiredness. "Says the one who let the twins make you lunch the other day. Let's face it, you don't have the best judgem-"
"How was I supposed to know they put puking pastilles in the soup? I thought they were past that."
Bill laughed softly and Eleanora felt warmth spread through her at the sound. "Go to sleep, El," he said softly, running his fingers gently through her tangled hair.
~
The next afternoon, Bill burst into the kitchen of Shell Cottage hours before he was due home. Eleanora was sitting at the dining room table with Tonks, notebooks full of Moody's old attack plans spread haphazardly between them. They'd been spending a few days a week studying them, seeing which ones they could salvage for future battles. When Eleanora saw Bill, wild-eyed and out of breath, she jumped out of her seat. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"What? Oh, nothing, nothing- hello, Tonks."
Tonks, whose stomach was showing much more after the original pregnancy announcement, pulled herself out of her seat to look at Bill quizzically. "What's going on?"
"There was a break-in at the Ministry," Bill said, his eyes wide. "I wanted to come back and tell you before anyone else does. It's major. Ron, Harry, and Hermione-"
"What?" Eleanora interrupted. "They were involved?"
"It was all them!" Bill was practically bouncing off the walls in anticipation. "They freed a ton of muggle-borns and then completely disappeared."
Tonks collapsed back down into her seat. "What were they thinking?" She didn't look upset exactly, just confused. "Why would they do that?"
"It's like I said," Eleanora said wisely. "They've got a plan. We just need to trust them."