A Quick Note: Another very fast update, I felt bad because the last chapter was short, and I also feel that these two fit with each other very well. I'll wait a bit longer to post the next one and try to get on more of a consistent schedule. I appreciate hearing what you all think, it's affirming my decision to share this little secret project of mine and making me very excited to continue. We've got a long road ahead of us, and I'm working hard to make sure I'm still far ahead of all of you. I hope you're enjoying following along with Draco and Eleanor! Drop me a message or review to let me know what you think! Thank you for your time!


Eleanor sobered up just in time for her and Draco to leave to Malfoy Manor. Draco was not the least bit excited for dinner. Eleanor was annoyed, and angry and nervous from their encounter in the foyer earlier that day, and she was anticipating the inevitable blowout between Lucius, Narcissa and herself when she refused to stay there. Part of Eleanor wanted to give up that fight. Just move in with the Malfoys and call it done. Realistically she only had two summers to actually live there, and trying to argue with the Malfoys was exhausting. Her attachment to her home was great, but she was losing her passion in the sadness.

Eleanor was sitting in the gardens amongst her mother's beloved flowers when Draco came to fetch her for dinner.

"You ready to go?" Draco asked softly. Part of him felt badly for confusing and embarrassing her earlier, but he was mostly just relieved that he was able to hide his feelings from her. Their relationship was a constant battle for the upper hand, and each party was constantly trying to figure out the other while not revealing too much about themselves. It was a tiring game they played, but it was one they were both skilled at.

"I think I am going to stay with you and your parents." Eleanor sighed lightly.

Draco, who liked to think he knew what Eleanor was thinking before she did, was shocked by her revelation, but not necessarily disappointed. "What made you come to this conclusion?" Draco asked cautiously, sitting beside her.

"I'm tired, Draco." Eleanor let out lowly. "I don't want to have this fight tonight. I just want to rest for a little while. I just want to make your parents happy."

"They just want you to be happy, and if that means staying here-" Draco started, trying to be calming, he knew Eleanor liked a gentle touch.

"No, Draco." Eleanor cut him off sharply. "They want to keep an eye on me constantly. They want to do what they think is right by my parents because they are trying to honor them."

"Isn't that, by extension, helping you." Draco questioned. He was losing their little game of trying to figure each other out, he was utterly confused by her.

"My parents don't...didn't want me living with them. They left me everything, legally, there is a way it is all mine, and I can live alone and be fine." Eleanor let out. "I don't have to do this Draco, but I am because your parents deserve to feel like they are helping me in some way, and they deserve to feel connected to my parents, and I'm too lonely to lose them too."

"Eleanor, for fuck's sake, stop worrying about other people and do something for you." Draco finally said loudly in exasperation. He was expecting Eleanor to cower back at his words. She always did when he pointed out her obvious selflessness because she was always forgot to take care of herself, and Draco always reminded her of how important that endeavor truly was. But Eleanor continued to surprise Draco and do things that were not typical of her.

"I am, Draco!" She shouted at him. "I don't want to fight with them right now. I want to stay close to you, for what reason I have no fucking clue because you make everything so much harder, but I do. I want you to stick around. And I want to not have to take care of everything here on my own. I'm tired, Draco. My parents just died."

"You were so defendant of this house no more than 24 hours ago. What happened to that? Did something change in the past day that makes you want to leave it all behind?" Draco demanded.

"Why do you care, Draco?" Eleanor snapped, running an aggravated hand through her hair. She finally looked at Draco, and he saw the ferocity in her eyes that he loved and feared at the same time.

"Because I just want you to be happy!" Draco called out, shocked at himself for saying it. "I don't know, El. I just hate to see you give up on something that you obviously really wanted." Draco tried to cover up. Eleanor was too flustered by his unnecessary arguing that she didn't even pick up on the heavily masked endearing concern.

"Eventually, Draco, I am gonna live here full time. But I think for right now I have to figure some things out before I can abandon your parents." Eleanor was finally working to calm the situation, she didn't like arguing with Draco, despite the fact that she did it often.

"I-I don't want you to think that I don't want you living with us, I do." Draco sighed, letting go of his confusion and frustration with her. "I mean, I really do. I just don't want you to have to give something up if you don't want to do that. It isn't fair to you."

Eleanor nodded in appreciation and understanding but said nothing.

They sat in silence for a moment. Eleanor thought about Remus Lupin, and how she needed to reach out to him. Part of her was reluctant to do so, but she knew it was something that had to be done. She held no resentment towards the man. She even kind of liked the idea of him creating her. In a way, it brought more sense to her life. It made things more obvious as to why she was in Gryffindor, and why her and her parents looked nothing alike, and why her parents disliked him so much. She knew Remus would never truly replace her parents, he might have brought her into the world, but her parents crafted her to conquer it, and that is not something Eleanor would soon forget. However, Eleanor knew that she had to give it time, or else she would cling to Remus and use him to fill the void in her life rather than cherish him for who he truly was.

Eleanor worked over everything in her mind. Change was so hard for her to swallow, and it frustrated her sometimes. She liked her life for what it was, and now it was up in the air, and her thoughts swirled madly around in her brain. Draco watched her closely, wondering what on earth she could be thinking about, and frustrated that she wasn't speaking about it. He still had so much to figure out about her, and that annoyed him to no end. He thought himself the one who knew her best, she had asked for him in a fit of mad grief and he had taken care of her since, and he was angry that even after that, she wouldn't just tell him what was in her head. He selfishly felt entitled to all of Eleanor's thoughts, and Eleanor knew this. It was part of the reason she kept so much to herself. Draco was a dear friend to her, perhaps her dearest, despite him being a total prick most of the time. However, no matter how dear he might have been, Eleanor didn't want to give him the satisfaction of being able to completely figure her out.

"What are you thinking about?" Eleanor asked softly, eyes closed, facing the bright sun. Draco could tell by her rosy cheeks that she had probably been out here for too long, but something about her permanent blush made him happy she did.

"Trying to figure out what you are thinking about." Draco answered simply. "Every time I think I have you figured out, you go and surprise me again."

Eleanor chuckled and peeked at him from the corner of her eye. "That's kinda the point."

"You drive me mad." Draco sighed in frustration.

"You aren't exactly a walk in the park either, Draco Malfoy." Eleanor informed him.

"Meaning?" Draco scoffed.

"Meaning that I thought you would be overjoyed that I decided to live with you because you so wanted me to yesterday, then you argued with me about it. I don't know what you're deal is." Eleanor rolled her eyes at Draco, and stood up while brushing herself off. She walked towards the entrance of her home, she needed to pack a bag if she intended on staying with the Malfoys. A thought made her pause before entering the house, she looked back at Draco who remained unmoved in the garden.

"I know you wanted to kiss me earlier." She finally let out. Draco began to panic at her soft words, but made no move. He made sure not to tense a single muscle.

"You were drunk." Draco forced a chuckle out, worried as to where where this was going.

"Not that-"

"You were drunk, Eleanor." Draco snapped, losing his cool for a moment. His harsh tone caused Eleanor to jump a little, and hearing her full name out of his mouth set her teeth on edge. She understood why he was defensive. She knew he wanted to kiss her, and for a moment she had been open to the idea. That window of opportunity, that window of weakness was now shut completely.

"Yeah well, it doesn't matter. That would never happen between us anyway." Eleanor sniffed snottily. "We aren't like that. You know that better than anyone, Draco."

"Yeah." Draco returned shortly. He waited for the closing of the back door before clapping his hands to his face. How could he have let his defenses fall? How could he have been so stupid? How could he have let her see that?


Waiting on the other side of the fireplace was Narcissa and Lucius. Narcissa looked tearful and Lucius seemed classically stoic. Eleanor smiled at them as Draco set her bag inside the parlor.

"Hello sweetheart." Narcissa wrapped Eleanor in a great hug. She was usually avoidant of showing emotion, but her family was always her exception. And Eleanor had always been family.

"Hello." Eleanor said softly back, unwrapping herself from Narcissa's arms. Part of her was relieved to be around others and part of her resented herself for being there.

"We are so happy to have you here." Narcissa gushed.

"I'm glad I decided to come. I am just too tired to handle things on my own." Eleanor admitted lightly. Draco rolled his eyes at her kissing up to his parents. He was perturbed at her changing mind and mood swings. She wasn't usually this wishy-washy and he liked that about her.

"Draco, take Eleanor's things up to the guest room." Lucius snipped quietly at Draco.

"Can't one of the elves do it?" Draco asked defensively.

"We dismissed them for the evening, dear." Narcissa let out through gritted teeth. She was trying to remain smiling for Eleanor's sake.

"Why would you do that?" Draco scoffed.

"I know how Eleanor dislikes seeing them about the home, and we just wanted it to be us tonight. Forgive us for trying to make Eleanor comfortable." Narcissa shot back in a sickly sweet voice. Eleanor shrunk back in herself. Usually when Narcissa and Lucius made comments about their house elves, or seemed almost condescending when addressing the Cordarri's dislike for them, Eleanor and her parents would exchange looks in good humor. Her father would have cracked a double edged joke about how a truly upstanding family has the ability to take care of their own home. Lucius would flare his nostrils slightly at his friend, but both would end up chuckling as Olga changed the subject to current events within their circle, or how much Draco had grown.

In the aftermath of that moment, every person in the Malfoy foyer felt the absence of Olga and Darius.

Draco knew better than to disobey his parents, and he feared the wrath of his father if he had to be asked twice, but when he saw the emptiness in Eleanor's eyes he felt he could not leave her. Not for a moment. He saw her thinking and reflecting about all of the times she had come through that fireplace with her parents by her side. She was missing them now, he could see her need for companionship. But he left anyway, taking her things upstairs. He set them in the room next to his. It wasn't the nicest guest room in Malfoy Manor, but it had the biggest window. Draco thought Eleanor would like that. Cordarri Castle was bright and airy and full of warmth. His home was nothing like that. It was cold and dark. It seemed the whole place was made of stone and the only inhabitants were statues and ghosts. He knew why Eleanor's parents wouldn't have wanted her to live there.

She was too bright and full of life to be stifled in a mausoleum like the one he lived in.

When Draco returned downstairs, he found his family in the dining room where Narcissa revealed that she had made the dinner herself. Draco almost laughed out loud at this. His mother had only ever stepped foot in the kitchen to get a glass of brandy or to yell at the house elves. Draco looked to Eleanor to see if she was also amused by this revelation, but he found nothing but extreme gratitude in her eyes.

"It smells lovely, Narcissa." Eleanor smiled.

"You kids sit, Lucius and I will go grab the food." Narcissa was filled with pride at Eleanor's words as the couple left the room.

The Malfoy table had enough seats to fit 16 comfortably. It was always that size unless that had a particularly large crowd coming, in which case, they stretched it to fit their grand, neverending dining room. Lucius always sat at the end of the table, with Draco at his right and Darius on his left. Narcissa sat next to Draco, and Eleanor sat across from her, with her mother on her left. So it came as second nature to Eleanor and Draco to assume their normal seats.

"You're a liar." Draco chuckled in good humor at Eleanor.

"How so?"

"It smells lovely." Draco mimicked Eleanor's words in an exaggerated high, and squeaky voice.

"Shut up, Draco." Eleanor rolled her eyes. "It was so nice of her to do this. One of us has to at least pretend to be grateful."

"Well, you are their favorite child, so I will leave the brown nosing to you." Draco joked.

Eleanor opened her mouth to say something witty in return about how she didn't need to brown nose to be the favorite, but Narcissa and Lucius returned with servings of food floating about their heads before Eleanor could properly deliver her blow to Draco.

Eleanor smiled a little to herself as she watched the food be placed on the table, she grew excited to fill her plate, becoming aware of the pit in her stomach. Lucius took his seat at the head of the table and Narcissa took hers next to Draco.

Eleanor then realized how truly alone she was with the chairs on either side of her being left open for her parents. She pretended she didn't notice them as she moved Narcissa's food around on her plate, taking a few bites here and there. The Malfoys continued their chatter. Narcissa asked Lucius about his day at work, and he replied at length, not because he was particularly passionate about his work, or because he thought Narcissa truly wanted to hear about the details, but because he wouldn't be able to bear the silence and sadness that was beginning to radiate off of Eleanor.

Everyone was aware of the emptiness in those two seats. Eleanor wasn't sure why she didn't just get up and move to the seat closest to Lucius. They were just empty chairs. It didn't mean anything. But even if she had, she would still be on the opposite side of the table. She still didn't have her biggest supporters next to her. It was still the Malfoys plus one. It was still one family and their guest. She was still on her own side of the table, alone. It didn't matter how many chairs were on either side of her. She still didn't belong. She still didn't have a family. Eleanor sucked in a quiet breath. With her eyes on the table, she let the Malfoys talk about their days and be immersed in their lives with each other. She failed to realize that one Malfoy wasn't as immersed as she thought.

Draco pushed up from his chair, causing it to squeal loudly as it moved across the wooden floors. Eleanor jumped out of her skin when she heard that noise and Narcissa and Lucius stopped all conversation. All three looked at Draco in confusion as he held his dinner plate and in a few long strides took a seat beside Eleanor. Without a word of acknowledgment, the four continued eating. Narcissa and Lucius on one side of the table and Draco and Eleanor on the other.


The black velvet sky was covered with clouds that night. It felt so final to Eleanor, who searched for stars. She wanted some light beyond the darkness, some hope beyond the sadness.

"I thought you might like the window." Draco said from the doorway to Eleanor's room. He had stood watching her sit cross legged on the floor in front of the giant window for a moment too long and felt he needed to make his presence to her known somehow.

Eleanor didn't turn around. Her long, tangled, brown hair cascaded down her back. Draco recognized the jumper she was wearing as one belonging to her father. Draco felt a bit awkward at her lack of response. Perhaps she didn't hear him.

"Where do you think people go?" Eleanor asked lowly.

Draco supposed he should have expected a question of this weight with all that Eleanor was going through, but he was still surprised by it. He took this as an invitation to enter her room. He closed the door quietly behind him and sat beside her on the floor.

"I haven't much thought about it, I guess." Draco responded quietly, looking up at that same dark sky through the panes.

"Me neither. Not until now anyway." Eleanor sighed. "I want to think it is something better. But what if it isn't anything at all? What if all they are is flesh and bones, and now they are just-"

"Memories." Draco supplied before Eleanor could spiral into a worried descent into the decaying of her parents bodies. "I mean, if that is the worst case scenario, there being nothing, then they still live on in your memories and the stories you tell."

Eleanor took a deep breath and nodded, letting her head rest of Draco's shoulder. "What do you think is the best case scenario?"

"I don't know, El." Draco let out quietly. "I hope it is something that makes this all worth it."

"I hope so too." Eleanor agreed.

A silence fell between the two for a bit. Draco almost thought a few times that Eleanor had fallen asleep, but she never did. She stayed staring out that damned window that Draco had hoped would help her, but seemed to only be worrying her more.

"Why aren't you always like this?" Eleanor asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Draco returned, but he knew exactly what she meant.

"You care for people, Draco. You have a heart for others, and you never show it. You just act like a prick." Eleanor talked about this a lot to Draco. More than either would like to admit. It was a fight often had between the two. Eleanor wanted everyone to see the side of Draco that she saw. Cocky, a smartass, and the occasional prick, yes; but he still genuinely cared for others and Eleanor knew he would be less hated if he actually showed that.

"I care for you, El. Not people." Draco admitted quietly. It was something he had never said during the other times they had this discussion of his character. He was unsure if he should have said it, especially with the way he had been letting his guard down lately. But maybe this is what Eleanor needed. Maybe she needed him to be more vulnerable with her feeling so broken. Maybe this helped her.

Eleanor didn't respond, which annoyed Draco because he felt that him bearing his true feelings for once deserved some sort of response, but she never gave one. She stayed awake for a while after he said those words, but after putting it off for enough time, sleep found her. Draco stayed still for a few minutes after realizing that Eleanor had drifted off, but he eventually urged her up and helped her into her bed. He pulled the covers over her and turned to return to his room.

Half asleep, Eleanor grabbed his hand gently.

"Draco. I hate being alone. Stay." She groggily asked.

And he did.