Okay friends! Here is another update for you all! We are moving forward a bit here through Eleanor's self discovery and growth after all she's been through! I'm always so incredibly excited to hear from you and see what you're thinking! I'm also hard at work editing, re-editing, and writing more to this story. It's going to be a long one, so prepare yourselves! I'm really just so stoked to be doing this and sharing something I've worked so hard for the past few years! Let me know what you think and how you're feeling about it!


The next few weeks went by in blurs. Narcissa was good to her word and planned the memorial service for the Cordarris. The celebration of life was completely packed. There was hardly and witch or wizard not in attendance. Eleanor didn't speak at the service, though Narcissa constantly reminded her how that didn't look good to the public. Eleanor took every sympathy from every guest in attendance with a sad heart and a blank face. Draco never left her side. When she was alone, she cried endlessly for her parents and grew angry at how none of the people who came to celebrate their life even knew them that well.

Eleanor would Floo home frequently. She kept up with her mother's garden, and would change out her clothes, and stare at the many pictures of her family that littered the walls of the castle. Eleanor didn't bother sorting through her parent's things. Their clothes could stay in the closet forever, they were not bothering anyone.

Eleanor was sad, she was grieving, but she was growing still. She was moving through the grief process and coming upon acceptance. It was a shallow sort of acceptance. It was the kind of acceptance that meant she didn't cry every time she heard their names, but she also refused to look at the memories that had been delivered to her house. She stored them in a broom closet somewhere on the way to the basement. A hallway that she never went down. She would tell herself it was too soon and that she had her own memories to comfort her, rather than relying on theirs. It was a poor case, but it justified her chosen ignorance towards those saved pieces of her parents.

The thought of writing to Remus Lupin seldom crossed Eleanor's mind. It seemed like a chore that she was more than happy to put off. Eleanor was unsure if she would ever write to him. She wanted to wait for a sign, she felt she would know one if it crossed her path. She figured it would be a gentle prodding from her parents on the other side, wherever they were; Eleanor was still a little foggy on her beliefs about the whole "life after death" thing.

However, part way through August, Eleanor felt she got that sign - through Hermione. The two hadn't seen each other all summer. Eleanor felt guilty because she knew her best friend was giving her space to grieve and recover by not reaching out, but Eleanor was perfectly content to spend her lonely times with Draco during that hotter than ever summer. In private, Draco was a good friend. He hid his good heart very well, even in front of Eleanor, but for some reason, she felt at home around him. He was the only part of her childhood that hadn't been torn away from her, and that wasn't something she took lightly.

Eventually though, even her oldest friend could wear on her nerves and patience, so Eleanor sent a hasty letter to Hermione, begging for tea at a Diagon Alley shop. Hermione was quick with a response and the two set up a day to meet.

When the day finally arrived, Draco bothered Eleanor endlessly. Trying to get her to stay.

"I haven't seen her all summer, Draco." Eleanor growled at her suddenly clingy friend as she searched the room she had been staying in for matching shoes and a purse with galleons in it.

"Okay but you spend the entire school year with her. You know we hardly see each other at Hogwarts." Draco pestered. He had never been this insistent before. Eleanor knew it was only his dislike for Hermione that drove him to argue against Eleanor seeing her.

"I'm not just going to sit around here waiting for you to get back from Blaise Zabini's house. You're always drunk when you come home anyway. Have you ever considered that maybe that isn't my favorite activity? Sitting alone while you drink with friends and waiting to cover for you in the evenings?" Eleanor rolled her blue eyes at Draco, who scoffed at her statement. Blaise's parents were away on holiday for almost the entire summer; they made it seem like it was a work related trip so that Blaise wouldn't have to travel with them. Eleanor had a sneaking suspicion that Lucius was also on a non-business "business" trip for the entire summer to escape Eleanor and the memories she brought into his home. With a whole estate to himself, Blaise had friends over almost every day to drink and play Quidditch and lay out by his pool. Eleanor had never been invited, but Draco always was. And even though he was welcome to stay at the Zabini's, he would always stumble through the Floo, drunk and wanting to see Eleanor. He felt he had some sort of obligation to her, so he would always come home to her and entertain her with his drunk musings.

"Don't pretend like you take care of me, Eleanor. You're nearly always as drunk as I am when I get home." Oh, yes. There was the little drinking habit that Eleanor had picked up over the past few weeks. She decided to sweep that under the rug.

"Not drunk, Draco. A glass of wine a night is supposed to be good for you." Eleanor sniffed.

"Then having five or six a night must really be doing you wonders." Draco shot back. "Blaise is having a big group over tonight, he said you were invited. You aren't really going to miss out, are you?" Draco tried a new tactic. She hadn't really been invited, but she grew up with these people, how bad could it be if she slipped in? Draco was trying to reason with himself.

"This evening?" Eleanor raised a brow, surprised that she had been invited to any Zabini event. "A big summer blowout?"

"No, no. A few more weeks until that. But tonight is a 'waterside meteor shower witness' or so Blaise calls it." Draco was getting excited that he was luring her away from Hermione. He liked being able to pretend that Eleanor was a Slytherin, even if only for the summers.

"That sounds like an elaborate way of saying 'getting drunk and jumping in the pool at night'." Eleanor laughed. "Count me in."

Draco smiled widely. "Perfect." He was feeling proud at his small victory over Granger, but was admittedly confused when Eleanor continued towards the fireplace.

"You're still seeing Granger?" Draco asked. "But-"

"It's noon, Draco. We will be done with tea by the time the meteors start falling, I can assure you." Eleanor chuckled as she Floo'd to meet her friend.


Conversation with Hermione was easier than Eleanor remembered. After a summer of playing a dance of words every time she spoke to Draco, letting her guard down and laughing without care with her best friend felt very freeing.

"I might look into getting a dog." Eleanor said after talking seemingly nonstop for an hour or so. "A little companionship would be nice." Eleanor didn't seem sad when she said this. She didn't feel sad - no more sad than her usual, baseline of anguish that she had grown accustomed to. "Although I can't imagine the Malfoy's taking the pup for the months I'm at school."

"The Weasley's might." Hermione suggested helpfully.

"No, no. I couldn't burden them with that. Molly has plenty of lives to worry about already." Eleanor smiled.

"It must be lonely, in that big house." Hermione said sympathetically, hoping that Eleanor might talk about her feelings a little more. Hermione had been mulling over words to say to her all summer, and Eleanor hadn't given her the slightest opportunity to say them.

"I'm not there too much." Eleanor shrugged. "I tend to my mother's garden, use her kitchen from time to time, gather more clothes."

"Oh, I didn't realize…" Hermione trailed off. "You were so insistent on staying there when we parted ways."

"I was all nerve and no practicality. The Malfoys aren't always the best company, but they are a rare part of my childhood that hasn't been taken away. They have been very helpful."

"I was beginning to wonder why you didn't want me to visit." Hermione stated. "You've been seeing a lot of Draco, then?" She tried her best to keep contempt for the youngest Malfoy out of her voice for the sake of her friend, but some still managed to slip through. Eleanor tried to ignore it, but her heart had been so full of Draco over the summer that certain tones were harder for her to ignore than they were before.

"Yeah," Eleanor wanted to elaborate on how wonderful and kind Draco could be, and had been but decided to keep those things to herself. "How are your parents doing?" Eleanor changed subjects from Draco.

"Alright, I suppose. I haven't seen them in a while." Hermione shrugged. She missed her parents, but didn't want to say so in front of Eleanor, who had a far greater reason to miss her mother and father.

"Have you been staying with the Weasleys?" Eleanor inquired. It was unlike Hermione to be away from her parents for too long.

Hermione clapped her hand to her head. "Oh, I'm so daft." She let out in regret. "I wasn't supposed to say anything."

"About what?" Eleanor asked, realizing she was being nosey, but not being able to stop herself.

"I suppose Dumbledore just wanted us to keep it from Harry," Hermione reasoned with herself quickly. She looked around her to make sure no one near the pair was listening in. "There is an organization rising, after everything that has happened." Hermione explained vaguely, afraid of getting caught. "I would love to tell you more about it, perhaps in a more private setting."

The girls moved their two person event to Eleanor's home. Hermione was quietly impressed by how bright and open the home still looked. She was sure the last thing Eleanor wanted was for her home to become a graveyard.

"So, this organization?" Eleanor asked, leading her friend to the kitchen and pouring her some water.

"The Order of the Phoenix." Hermione spilled quickly, excited to have her favorite confidant back. "It was started during the first war, and it getting brought back again. "

"There is going to be a war?" Eleanor asked dumbfounded, her heart constricting in fear, thinking of only the Malfoys, worried they would choose the wrong side again.

Hermione squeezed Eleanor's hand, recognizing the fear and smart enough to realize where her mind immediately went. "We don't know yet, but we need to be prepared. Voldemort is back and he is getting stronger by the day."

Eleanor nodded, trying to keep tears of fear out of her eyes. Did Voldemort's return have anything to do with her parents death? Or the fact that somehow every test ran on their bodies came up with no cause of death? Narcissa and Lucius were loyal to Voldemort before, did the 14 years of friendship with Olga and Darius change their hearts enough to remain neutral? What was Draco going to do? Eleanor's mind was swimming, drowning. A war? How many more deaths would she have to endure?

"Eleanor." Hermione brought her friend back. "You will be protected. Don't worry."

Eleanor didn't want to voice that she wasn't worried about herself, but she felt that Hermione knew. "Who is all apart of it?"

"The Weasleys, the real Mad Eye Moody, a few Aurors from the Ministry, Dumbledore, Snape, Sirius Black, we are using his home as headquarters, that's where me and the Weasleys have been staying. Oh, do you remember Professor Lupin? He is apart of it too."

Eleanor's heart stopped at that name. Hermione kept talking but Eleanor's ears felt like they went fuzzy. Her biological father, Eleanor had easy access to him. Hermione saw him every day. Was this her sign? Was this the universe's way of telling her to talk to him?

"You said Remus Lupin was there?" Eleanor interrupted her friend, Hermione's brows braided together in confusion.

"Yes, he is." She confirmed.

Eleanor wasn't thinking, she wasn't prepared to see him but she figured that if she got the gut feeling, she should follow it.

"Can I go see him?" Eleanor spilled out, her mind spinning. She was screaming at herself internally. She wasn't ready, she didn't know what she was going to say to him.

"Lupin?" Hermione asked for clarification.

"Uh, yeah." Eleanor began to wring her hands together in nervousness. "It's been awhile since I have seen him. He was my favorite professor."

"The Weasleys are there too." Hermione reminded.

"Oh, yes. And the Weasleys." Eleanor gathered up her things. "I can't stay long, I am going over to Blaise Zabini's with Draco tonight. Some sort of meteor shower watch party." Eleanor forced herself to chuckle and roll her eyes so she didn't seem so on edge, but Hermione could see right through her.

"Is everything alright?" Hermione asked as the pair walked towards the fireplace.

"Peachy." Eleanor nodded once, allowing Hermione to Floo the two of them there.

The Order headquarters was cramped. Eleanor could already tell. The kitchen had random articles of clothing, dishes stacked and shoes piled. It seemed to be where everyone left their jackets. She was sure Molly was having a fit about it.

Eleanor felt light headed. Voices of various Weasley siblings were muffled. She was vaguely aware of her hands shaking uneasily. She wished Draco was there. For some reason he calmed her heart even though he often frustrated her mind.

"Remus?" Hermione called through the dark, cramped home.

"What do ya need, love?" A distantly familiar voice called from the parlor. Hermione led Eleanor into another dark room. Sirius Black lounged lazily on the couch. He was cleaner, and better dressed than the last time Eleanor saw him. Her interaction with him was short and panic filled. Sirius' eyes filled with regret when he looked at her, he remembered knocking Eleanor roughly to the ground when he lunged for Peter Pettigrew - who was under his Scabbers alias at the time - the fall had broken a few bones in Eleanor's shoulder and gave her a bit of a concussion. Nothing Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix in a jiffy but still something Sirius felt guilty about.

Eleanor knew Sirius was innocent and Harry's beloved godfather, but it was still a bit of a shock to see him after spending the majority of her life believing him to be a murderer.

"Where's Remus?" Hermione asked. "Eleanor wanted to see him."

Sirius raised his eyebrows at Eleanor. "Favorite professor?" He inquired. Eleanor nodded once. "He's in the loo. Be out in a minute. I do want to offer my deepest sympathies about your parents. I was a few years behind them in school, but they were wonderful people, I heard nothing but great things. Loss is the world's cruelest trick." Sirius smiled sadly.

"Thank you." Eleanor said softly, not wanting to talk about her parents. Sirius nodded once as the knob on the door off the parlor jiggled.

Seeing Remus shocked Eleanor more than she thought it would. But it was nothing compared to Remus seeing his daughter. For a moment Remus thought it was her, Eleanor's mother. She looked so similar to her. Her brown, wavy hair that framed her round cheeks. All that was missing was a smile, but Remus couldn't expect her to be smiling now.

"Miss Cordarri. What a surprise." Remus managed to squeeze out, his throat was constricting with nerves. He had missed Eleanor more than anyone could imagine.

"Could we talk?" Eleanor asked in a tight voice. Hermione was exhibiting her extreme confusion with her facial expressions, but didn't question anything as she exited the room with Sirius.

Once the room was empty and silent, Eleanor felt like somehow the air was heavier, like she couldn't speak.

"I'm so sorry about your parents." Remus finally offered, his eyes were glued to her and her eyes were glued to her shoes. Eleanor didn't respond. Her heart was loud in her ears. Why did she come? This was a mistake. She wasn't ready for this.

"I imagine this must be extremely confusing and hard to process." Remus nervously tried to fill the silence. "Grief is-"

"Who else knows?" Eleanor asked suddenly, she quickly realized how rude she sounded. "I mean, ah - I'm sorry." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I decided to drop in so last minute, I hadn't really prepared myself." She tried to recover.

"It's quite alright, truly." Remus comforted, putting an unsure hand on Eleanor's shoulder, and guiding her to sit down. Had the situation not been so tense and emotional, he could have laughed at her nerve-induced lack of tact; something he recalled exhibiting when we was giving her up to Darius and Olga. "I can only imagine what you must be feeling." He sucked in a deep breath. "Sirius is the only other one who knows. Harry's parents knew as well. I've kept it rather hush otherwise."

"I wanted to tell you that I know. And I do want a relationship with you, Professor Lupin." Eleanor said quietly, calming her breathing now and braving a look into eyes identical to hers. He wasn't home, but he was still a comfort that Eleanor was ready to begin accepting.

"Call me Remus, please." He smiled at her. He knew better than to ask her to call him 'dad'.

"Remus." Eleanor nodded, trying to calm herself. "I'm sorry I just popped in. I should have written. It's just that I have been putting off contacting you all summer and when Hermione told me you were here - I don't know, it sounds silly, but it felt like a sign. So I just came here without thinking."

"Can I take you to dinner sometime?" Remus asked, a slight smile on his face. "A way for us to get better acquainted in a casual setting that we are both prepared for."

Eleanor looked at Remus, kind Remus, who was trying his best to make this easy on Eleanor. She was so grateful and for a moment, truly happy. It was fleeting when she remembered all that she had lost, but Remus wasn't a negative in her life. "I would really like that."

"How is the day after tomorrow looking for you?" He asked pleasantly.

"I'll squeeze you in." Remus was afraid she was being serious and that he was burdening her, but he quickly caught her mischievous, twinkling eyes and her upturned corners of her mouth and realized she was cracking a joke.

"We can meet in Diagon Alley, perhaps around 6?" Remus suggested.

Eleanor was truly excited. No qualifications. She was genuinely looking forward to that day.


"That sure took longer than you said." Draco huffed as soon as Eleanor exited the fireplace.

"Sorry, I had to go to my house and get a few things for tonight." Eleanor rolled her eyes at Draco's impatience.

"Get what?" Draco asked, pushing off the wall he had been leaning on and followed Eleanor as she bounded up the stairs to the room she had been staying in.

"Swim suit, extra clothes." Eleanor shrugged, then pulled a bottle of champagne and a bottle of expensive, clear liquor from her bag. "Also this because I felt like I couldn't show up empty handed." She smiled mischievously at Draco. There was a glimmer in her eye that Draco hadn't seen the whole summer. She was ready to have fun. His heart sped off, she was almost back to her normal self, and she wanted to get drunk and be careless with Draco like she used to.

"Well stocked." Draco commented with a smirk, looking at the bottle in her hands. "This stuff is top notch." He realized the moment he said it that it belonged to her father. The Cordarri alcohol cellar was vast, almost overflowing. Eleanor was set for life, but he wondered what kind of emotional toil she went through to bring herself to take her father's unopened bottles of prize liquor to a party thrown by someone so distant from her.

But Eleanor simply shrugged as if it was no care to her. "I wouldn't know, I just grabbed the first bottles I could find in the cellar."

"What happened to you?" Draco asked with a laugh, wrapping the bottles in a towel and putting them back into her bag before his mother came up to the room to be nosy.

"I don't know." Eleanor rubbed her neck uncomfortably, she didn't like keeping things from Draco, but Remus and the Order were her secret for now. She was reminded that afternoon that she had people, she didn't have the people she wanted most, but she had people who were there for her. She wasn't as alone as she thought. "It's been awhile since I have had a truly good time." She smiled at Draco a bit. "I'm ready to have fun."

"Okay," Draco nodded, smiling "let's go have some fun."