"It's so wonderful of you to join us, Eleanor!" Molly gleefully said and placed a big pan of thick soup on the large table in Grimmauld place and immediately after Ron dove to the ladle to serve himself a big portion which received him a tick on the hands of his mother. "Guests first!" She hissed and Eleanor laughed before giving Fred her plate to let him put in the soup.
"Thank you for letting me join you," Eleanor politely said and took a big gulp of her soup after everyone had gotten their piece. "This is outstanding!" She hummed.
Fred and George had bragged about their mum's cooking skills and now she could finally happily agree.
"Thank you, dear. You're too kind," Molly gushed and Eleanor saw Arthur give the woman a loving look.
Eleanor felt truly at home and she couldn't for the life of her remember the last time she had a family dinner. Sure, Narcissa joined Draco and her sometimes but it was mostly just the two teens who ate the cooking of the small house elfs at Malfoy Manor.
"I told you she's nice for a Slytherin!" George told his little sister, Ginny, who seemed to be looking at Eleanor in fear.
"Oi!" Eleanor shouted and poked George in the ribs which made him do a weird move. Ginny cracked a smile at that and felt much more at ease.
"Don't worry Ginny, I promise you I'm nothing like the Slytherin's you have encountered in the past," Eleanor whispered out to the girl and Ginny relaxed in her seat.
"She wouldn't harm a fly!" Fred added.
"I wouldn't say that. She did almost punch that cashier in the muggle shop, Freddie," George said and Eleanor shot a glare. Really?! They had to say that at the dining table where everyone could hear?
"You did?!" Ron's eyes went big and stared at the blonde girl. "Wicked!"
"Did she deserve it?" Ginny's high voice interrupted Ron and Eleanor's eyes crinkled at that.
"She was flirting with Fred and George, couldn't let that happen," Eleanor winked at Ginny and she laughed.
"Atta girl! That's my sister!" Noah's voice boomed from the other side of the table and everyone laughed. This was the first time Eleanor noticed her brother and he was still dressed in his pyjama's, the lazy bugger had slept all day. Not surprising.
"You're just as much as a trouble maker as my boys then," Molly said and looked lovingly at the three. Eleanor had been really scared for Molly to be mad at her, it wasn't exactly the bestest impression; her almost punching a harmless muggle girl, but she could see that Molly would do anything for Arthur too and Eleanor was glad to see they had that in common. She cared deeply for her boys.
"It was hot," Were Fred's final words about the conversation before the topic directed to something else and Eleanor was all too happy to just listen to their worlds and interests.
"Can I help you with the dishes, Molly?" Eleanor asked the woman after dinner had finished and everyone except for her, Fred and George had left the room. Molly nodded and handed Eleanor a towel. "If you could dry them that'd be wonderful, dear."
Eleanor looked back at the twins and George mouthed 'We're at the living room' at her and she smiled, watching them walk away.
"Do you love them?" Molly's question almost made Eleanor drop a plate and she looked at the woman with big eyes.
"Love is a big word," She mumbled and placed a clean plate in the cupboard.
Molly stopped doing what she was doing and turned her body towards the girl, her eyes gleaming with kindness. "I can see the way they look at you, Eleanor. I have never seen them so happy."
Eleanor blushed and let her hair fall in front of her face and looked up when she felt a hand placed on her shoulder.
"They are in love with you, dear. It's not a problem if you have to wait a little longer to tell them your feelings. That's perfectly fine."
Eleanor merely nodded. "I care about them deeply."
Molly turned around to finish washing the dishes. "I can tell, sweetheart."
❥
"Ellie!" Fred and George cheered when she entered the living room and she joined them and Ron on the sofa, she was squeezed next to Fred and Ron, in which the first one was way too keen to put his arm around her shoulders. Eleanor snuggled into his side and propped up her feet on the sofa and snuggled into his chest, Fred smelled like fireworks and nature, her absolute favorite sent.
"Hey, what about me?" George's voice said from Fred's side and Eleanor draped her arm over Fred's stomach to take hold of George's hand. "Much better."
"I have to go soon," Eleanor mumbled into Fred's chest and she could feel him slouch down.
"Already?"
"Yeah, you just got here!" George agreed.
"Stay a little longer—"
"— Please?"
"Perhaps a little longer," She mused.
Eleanor suddenly felt how tired she was and the crackling of the fireplace wasn't helping much, the three boys and Hermione had totally drained her energy for the day, they had talked from her arrival to dinner about everything and nothing and Eleanor was glad to officially call them her friends. Even Ron had warmed up a lot to her and he had agreed that she was a perfect fit for his two older brothers.
"Eleanor, do you want to play Exploding Snap with me and Noah?" Ginny's voice asked from the other side of the living room and the blonde girl lifted herself up from Fred who groaned by the loss of contact.
"Sure, Ginny!"
Ginny and Eleanor got along great and she was happy to see that the younger Weasley sister was feeling comfortable around her presence, something she had hoped would happen. The three didn't see the way Fred and George were looking at them with a smile on their faces.
After three rounds of Exploding Snap Eleanor decided that she would cuddle a little longer with Fred and George before turning home and this time she sat in between them; George basically shoved Fred away when Eleanor made way back to the sofa.
Both the twins arms were around her shoulders and she placed her hands on their legs, her eyes suddenly drooping again.
"Take a nap, love—"
"— We'll wake you."
Eleanor snuggled closer to her two favorite red heads and fell asleep in an instant.
"Shit!"
"Should we wake her?"
"Of course we should! What time is it?"
"It's almost midnight!"
"El! Ellie, wake up! Wake up!" Eleanor roughly opened her eyes when she felt two hands pushing her body in hurry. "Wha—?" She murmered and blinked a few times to get the sleep out of her eyes.
"We fell asleep as well! I'm sorry!"
"We're sorry—"
"— That's what I said, you should really go home now, lovely."
Eleanor's eyes sprang open and her eyes wandered to the big wooden clock in the living room and her shock got even bigger.
"Bloody hell! Apparate me, boys!" She shouted after quickly pecking Fred and George, knowing they didn't have time to do that after they had dropped her back home.
❥
Mr. Wilson stormed into the room after he heard the load crack of Fred and George disapparating and he swiftly walked to his daughter.
"Care to explain where you were, young girl?" He brisked and he towered over her, glaring at her.
"I—." But as always Eleanor couldn't finish her sentence before a hand was smacked against her cheek which made her stagger backwards and fall on the ground of the force.
"Who were those boys?!" He angrily shouted and Eleanor grabbed her knees for protection, she was sure that her father had not seen Fred and George but luck wasn't in her favor tonight.
"Nobody!" Eleanor whispered back and hid her face from the menacing look of her father.
"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Eleanor's hand shot up to her face where there was now a big wound from her dad's spell.
"Diffindo," Was the curse her father casted on her before more cuts on her face and body appeared and Eleanor screamed in agony, she could count 8 slashes before her father finally stopped.
"You should learn not to lie to me next time," Mr. Wilson said, disappointment lacing his voice before turning around and leaving the girl alone on the floor sobbing.
Only a minute had passed before Draco ran into the room, he had heard Eleanor scream and he gasped loudly before sinking to the floor and bringing her to his chest.
"El, can you hear me?" He whispered into her blonde locks that had now turned pink from all the blood leaving her face and she shook against her head against his shoulder.
"It hurts, Draco. Make it stop, please," She sobbed and she felt Draco rummaging around for his wand.
"Vulnera Sanentur," She heard Draco say but the blood kept on flooding and nothing happened.
He repeated himself in concern. "Vulnera Sanentur!"
Still nothing was happening and he groaned. "Bloody hell, why isn't it working? We need you out of here, El!" Draco gently picked up the girl and walked to the fireplace. He hated the fact that he was too young to apparate.
"I'm bringing you to the Weasley's! Where are they staying?" He hurriedly said and Eleanor had to do her best to articulate her words. "I-I d-on't kno-ow," She heavily sobbed and soon Draco's clothes were full of blood as well. He fumed in anger. How could Mr. Wilson just hurt his own daughter and leave her on the floor to die!
"Fuck," Draco mumbled before an idea sprang in his mind, he stepped inside of the fireplace, took a hand of floo powder and dropped it into the fire place.
"The Burrow!" He repeated the words he had heard Eleanor say a few days ago and they both wooshed away.
Eleanor screamed even more from pain when they arrived at the dark, quiet house and Draco laid her down on the sofa, quickly staining it with her blood loss, deciding that he would clean it up when they had fixed up Eleanor, hell, he would even buy the family a new sofa but he just had to fix his best friend. Right now!
Draco run to the maze of a house and noticed everything being really worn down, things were everywhere and he was disgusted by it but he didn't give it much thought when he ran to the window where a stack of letters were laying.
"Accio new address of the Weasley's," He pointed his wand at the letters and groaned when nothing happened. There went his plan.
"What to do, what to do?!" He said to himself before shrugging and ripping open the letters, he was sure the Weasley's wouldn't mind, he was trying to save the soulmate of their middle sons after all!
"Dray.." Draco could hear Eleanor's whimpers and began even ripping more letters apart in a hurry, why wasn't it written down?! Were these people stupid?!
Suddenly a big clumsy bird flew through the open window and nearly busted into Draco before he shoo'ed the animal away. A letter had dropped at his feet and he read the address which was adrressed to a place he had never heard. The stupid bird must have flew to the wrong house. It was worth a shot.
"Come on, let's go, darling," Draco had ran back to the girl and gently shushed her, kissing her forehead before stepping into the fireplace again. This time shouting a different address.
"12 Grimmauld Place!"
They had arrived in a dark and quiet house again and Draco wondered for a second if there was anyone even there before he heard someone walking upstairs. He walked through the house as quick as he could, Eleanor still in his arms, before laying her on the floor in front of a fireplace that was still cracking warmth. He noticed she was getting cold from all the blood loss and decided that this was the best place for to wait for him and maybe warm up a little, before he could find anyone that could help him.
Draco ran up the big steps of the house before shouting "help" as loud as he could. A door creaked open which revealed a pale ginger girl in her pyjamas and she quickly closed it again when she saw Draco and he cursed.
"Bloody hell! Someone help!"
Another door creaked open and he looked in the eyes of a small plump woman whose face paled when she saw the white haired Slytherin boy.
"Don't stand there looking all stupid, bloody help me! It's Eleanor, she's—" Molly pushed him away before he could explain what happened and rushed down stairs, immediately knowing where she was. Draco ran after the woman and sunk down on the ground caressing Eleanor's head in worry.
"You can help her, can you?" He shouted at the woman who just looked at Eleanor in shock, at the deep cuts and blood that was still gushing out of her.
This sprang Molly back in action and she glared at Draco. "Of course, I can, boy! Stay there. Talk to her, don't let her slip unconscious," She barked before running to a different room.
"Ellie," Draco whispered at the girl and she looked up at him with watery eyes. "Can you hear me?" She nodded, it was barely noticeable but a small smile was placed on Draco's face.
"I found help, Ellie. The pain will be gone soon. You'll be fine," He lovingly said and placed her head on his lap, his dark suit covered in red blood.
She nodded and she mumbled something that broke Draco's heart, even though he knew it was coming and he braced himself for it. "George.. Fred.."
Draco closed his eyes, fighting back the tears before looking up at the girl. He had thought he had successfully pushed his feelings away for Eleanor, he had even made effort to accept the two red heads for her, but this felt like a sword had stabbed him in the heart.
"Just a moment, darling," He nodded and shouted at the other room. "Hurry up!"
Two gasps were heard from the door opening and Draco looked up to see two angry twins rushing to him.
"Malfoy! What the bloody hell did you do?" George snapped at him before roughly shoving him away and replacing Draco's lap with that of his. Eleanor looked up at the two boys and closed her eyes with a sigh. She had fainted.
Draco's eyes were spitting fire and he stomped back to the two boys. "What did I— If you two had been more careful this would never had happened!" He shouted, his cheeks red from fury.
Fred had taken place at Eleanor's side and hold her hand and the two boys looked up at Draco with shock and confusion written on their faces.
"They saw you!" Draco continued, his voice still raised and laced with venom. "Mr. Wilson saw you and punished her. This is all your fault! I only tried to help her, I bloody love her!" Tears were now streaming over his face and he angrily wiped them away. This was the first time ever they had seen Draco crying and the two boys couldn't believe what they were seeing. Draco fell to his knees and held Eleanor's other hand.
"Fuck, there was so much blood. I didn't know where else to take her."
"You did the right thing," Molly's voice appeared back in the room, still laced with concern; for Eleanor's health and for Draco being in their hidden place, but she placed those worries into the back of her head and shoved Fred away. She had brought a lot of medical stuff that Draco had never before seen in his life, he was used to spells being the solution. She began to dab a clear solution on Eleanor's wounds, whose eyes were still closed and Draco thought for a second she was dead but he noticed a slow pulse when he held his two fingers on her wrist.
"Ferula," Molly tapped Eleanor with her wand before bandaging came out of nowhere and wrapped them around the hard cuts on Eleanor's body, luckily she had stopped the bleeding from her cheek and she didn't need anything to be placed on that.
"You should bring her to Hermione's room, Freddie. She needs rest," Molly told her son and he nodded before picking her up and leaving the room. Draco looked at the woman in bewilderment. "I can't take her back home?"
"She's in no state to travel. It's unbelievable that she survived you coming here. You could've killed her," Molly answered, not looking the Slytherin boy in the eye.
George stood up as well and looked at Draco. "How did you even know where we were? We never told Eleanor the address."
"Yeah, about that.."
❥
"Malfoy?" Noah opened the door with shock, still in his pyjamas when Draco knocked on his door. "What are you—"
"Your lovely dad decided to hurt El, I'm staying the night here. I'm not leaving without her."
He brisked into the room and sat on the spare bed that was meant to be for Harry when he arrived, his face in his hands.
"Eleanor?! What? What happened?" Noah ran to his least favorite Slytherin boy and forced him to stand up. "Is this her blood?" He was holding Draco's arm's and he pulled it back with force.
"Don't touch me! Yes, this is her blood."
"But what happened?" Noah asked in concern, turning around for the door but Draco's voice stopped him. Draco sighed.
"Your father caught El and those bloody blood-traitors when they dropped her back home, I don't know much but I found her on the floor crying and bleeding loads," Draco's voice was still shaking and Noah suddenly felt for the boy. He obviously couldn't help Eleanor being hurt and Noah knew he cared loads for the girl, even though it was too much in his opinion.
Noah sat down on the bed next to Draco and to his surprise he slung an arm around the trembling boy. "How is she..?"
"The woman treated her wounds. She's sleeping now," Draco said shakily and he looked Noah in the eye with tears leaking from the inner corners. "I tried to help her, Noah. I really did but my spell wasn't working. I don't know why it wasn't working!"
Noah rubbed Draco on the back and stood up and walked to his closet, grabbing a shirt and shorts from it before handing it to Draco. "You can sleep in this, I'm going to check on the twins. You did great, Draco. Thank you," Noah sincerely said and Draco nodded at him, wiping his tears away before standing up and changing around.
Noah softly closed the door behind him before walking to the twins room where George opened the door after he had knocked three times.
"Is she—"
"She's going to be okay. How's Malfoy?" George said and Noah could see that he meant his concern for the boy. Perhaps this encounter would bring them closer, Eleanor would like that.
"Shaken up."
"It was weird to saw him cry," Fred mumbled and he thought back to Draco's streaming tears and how he stroked the girl her long hair.
"He loves her, Fred. Just like you do," Noah mumbled and he placed himself on the ground, leaning against Fred's legs.
Both the twins agreed with jealousy but were also grateful that Draco had thought to bring her to them. Eleanor would always choose for them anyway, she loved them, there was no need for jealousy. They couldn't help but feel it anyway.
"What was that spell, No? Why was it that Malfoy couldn't help her?" Fred asked after some silence and Noah sighed.
"Dark magic."
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!