"What is it, Eleanor?" Lucius questioned, trying to comfort me. I had been lying in bed for maybe fifteen minutes. I was extremely tired, but couldn't get to sleep.
"Take it down!" I cried, pointing above me. He looked confused.
"Take what down?"
"Take it down! I don't like it! Take it down!" I repeated, getting frustrated that he didn't understand what I was talking about.
"Shhh... Listen, Eleanor. You're going to have to calm down and tell me what is wrong if you want me to fix it, okay?" He lifted my chin so I would look at him. Instead of replying, I sat up and wrapped my arms around him. He held me until my tears were almost gone and my breathing was slower. "Now, will you tell me what's wrong?"
"The mirror..." I whimpered, pointing up again. He looked, and then was filled with understanding.
"Oh, the mirror. You don't like the mirror. Why didn't you just tell me?"
"Because it scared me..." I sniffed. "I feel like there's a person over me, and it scares me..."
"That's okay." He nodded. "But I'm not taking it down tonight. I will in the morning."
"But..."
"I know. I wasn't finished. You can sleep in our room for tonight. Is that okay?"
"Is there a mirror?"
"No, there's not a mirror." He assured, and then stood up. "Come on, let's get you to bed. If you're not rested tomorrow, you won't feel well."
"Okay..." I replied as he helped me out of bed. Instead of going through the secret passage, he led me to the door. As we passed, I glanced at the empty dog bed. I knitted my brows.
"Lucius, where's Orion?" I stopped. He gently grabbed my upper arm and pulled me along.
"Narcissa was taking him out. She'll bring him back in a bit."
"Okay..." I bit my lip as we went through the hall. I kept my concentration on the portraits on the walls as we passed. He stopped a few doors down from mine. When he opened the door, I saw that it was, in fact, the same room the passage way led to. He ushered me in and closed the door.
He took me to the bed and pulled the blankets back. I got in, and he handed me Melvin. I hugged the dragon and laid back.
"You need to try to go to sleep." He reminded, sitting on the edge of the bed. I grabbed his hand.
"I'm scared."
"And you're tired." He added. "I promise I'm right here. Narcissa will be here soon, as well."
"Okay..." I mumbled, closing my eyes.
My fright fought to keep me up, yet, the Combination tried its hardest to put me to sleep. After about ten minutes, the Combination won, and I was out.
.....................................................
I woke up a couple times during the night, both of which I had to be assured and calmed down before I could go back to sleep. I would forget where I was and why, and by the time I would remember, I was already crying. But other than that, the night went pretty smoothly.
Lucius woke me up the next morning. I got ready by showering and putting on a clean pair of the black pajamas. When I excited the bathroom, Narcissa was there instead of Lucius. More importantly, Orion was sitting at her feet. He looked up and excitedly started yipping. I quickly picked him up. He looked up and started licking my face. Narcissa smiled.
"You seem to be feeling well this morning." She stood up from the freshly-made bed. I put Orion down and petted his head as he jumped onto my legs.
"Hm." I wasn't really sure how to reply, so I kept playing with Orion.
"Are you hungry?" She asked. I ignored her. "You need to come down and eat breakfast with us. Lucius has your Combination downstairs." Again, I did nothing. She went to me and touched my arm. "Eleanor, please come and take your Combination." Her touch made me feel uncomfortable, so I jerked away from her.
"But Orion..." I bit my lip, still stroking the little dog. I was so happy to see him that I didn't want to go away from him. Narcissa shook her head.
"You can take Orion with you, sweet heart. You really need to take your Combination. If you do not do what St. Mungo's wants you to, they will make you go back and you won't be able to stay here. Do you want that to happen?" She used the sweetest voice she could muster. I bit my lip, tearing up. I didn't want to go back. I had worked so hard to get to leave, I couldn't ruin it now.
"I don't want to go back..."
"That's why you have to come on." She took my hand and started leading me out of the door. I silently cried the rest of the way down to the dinning room. Orion ran at my heels.
When we entered, I saw that the big table was laid out with food, almost like breakfasts had been at Hogwarts. There were lots of different foods, as well as a place already set for Narcissa and I. Lucius was already seated, along with Draco, who gave me a sour look.
The two of us sat down, I being beside Lucius and Narcissa beside her son, and I looked into my lap.
"Good morning, Elle." Lucius grinned. I swallowed and nodded. "I have your Combination for you." He handed me the vial containing the yellow liquid. I took it without argument as I remembered what Narcissa had said. "Is there anything you would like to do today?" Lucius asked after I handed the empty vial back to him. I shrugged my shoulders. "You can go to the library, or take a walk." I shrugged again. Truthfully, all I really wanted to do was lay around.
"Just give up, it's not like she's going to talk to you." Draco snapped, taking a bite of his oatmeal. Narcissa looked at him sternly.
"Stop it, Draco." She practically growled. He rolled his eyes.
"Draco, " Lucius started. "Eleanor is in a very delicate state and-"
"Yeah, I know." Bitterness dripped from his son's tone. "Eleanor is hurt. Eleanor's orphaned. Eleanor needs us. Eleanor, Eleanor, Eleanor..." He spat, slamming his cup onto the table and getting up. Narcissa got up as well .
Draco, you are out of line."
"Of course I am." He shortly stated, then marched out of the room. Narcissa quickly got up and followed him. I looked down into my empty plate. It was just Lucius and I left, and it was awkwardly silent. Under the table, Orion whimpered for food.
"Would you like some breakfast, Elle?" Lucius strained, trying his best to ask as if Draco's comments hadn't happened. I shook my head no. "Here, have some toast." Despite what I had said, he laid a couple pieces of toast onto my plate. I sighed and stared down at them, unsure of what to do. "Go on..." He encouraged. I took a small nibble. He smiled, obviously happy that I was doing as he asked. "Thank you." He said. I bit my lip.
It went back and forth, him trying to get me to eat, then me nibbling. This went on for several minutes, until he turned his head, and I slipped a piece under the table to Orion. He never knew it wasn't me who had eaten it.
...............................................................
The day went drearily along. I did go to the Malfoy's library, where everything was dusty and untouched. None of the books were really of interest (they were mostly law books and things of that nature), so I just played with Orion until it was time for my nap.
"There's someone here to see you." Lucius said when he woke me up. I rubbed my eyes, confused.
"Who?" I stretched, getting out of bed. The mystery made my heart jump a beat or two, and not in a good way.
"You'll see. Come on, you only have a few minutes, then you have to go to therapy." He replied. I quietly followed him down stairs into one of the many parlors. My eyes widened:
There, sitting on the couch, was Charlotte and Lovell. I took a step forward, unsure of what to do.
"Hi, Eleanor..." Charolette dryly greeted. An untouched cup of tea sat in front of her on the coffee table. I bit my lip, trying to hold back tears.
"Hi..." My voice trembled.
"We're, um, sorry we never came to be you, but..." Lovell stopped to swallow. "We just weren't sure if we could."
"We're not really sure how to say this, so we're just going to go ahead and do it. We're moving."
"W-where?" I asked. I couldn't' imagine them anywhere else but their little house near the woods.
"Away. I hope you understand."
"Yeah..." I felt a tear slid down my cheek. They could no longer live in the house that had once been their home. The place where they sons, who were no longer with them, had played and grew up. Too many memories were in its walls. The yard. Everywhere.
"Anyway, we are having a memorial service tomorrow, since we can't have a funeral since we don't have a body..." Lovell continued. At this, Charolette dabbed at her eyes with a hanky.
"We wanted to have it earlier, but we didn't feel right having it without you." HE stopped and swallowed. "We also have some things for you. Firstly, we want you to have Virgo. We can't take her with us. It wouldn't be right to take her away from Orion." I nodded, wiping my eyes as well. "We also have what would have been your wedding ring. We feel it's only right that you have it. You can pick them up tomorrow, along with anything else you want. Anything in his room is yours. "
The two of them casted their eyes down. A steady stream of tears was flowing down Charolette's face now. I could seem tears in Lovell's eyes, although they hadn't spilled over yet. I, not able to hold it back anymore, burst out into sobs. Orion saw this and licked at my ankles, trying to comfort me, but it didn't help.
This whole thing was like one big reality check. This confirmed he was dead. Of course I knew he was, but this made it seem more real. Made the pain feel more intense...
"We hope you will be coming tomorrow." Lovell's voice shook. I wiped at my eyes.
"I will..." I somehow got out. "I defiantly will."