Lil note: Hey friends! So we are back at Hogwarts, and for the sake of not dragging pointlessly for these months at Hogwarts, I do bounce around a fair bit to provide snapshots of important moments. So the next few months are wrapped up nicely in this chapter to get us to some more substantial story. I just did this to save us all from the slowness of months without much action. Hope you all enjoy! Let me know what you think!
Eleanor returned to Hogwarts feeling refreshed. She had left feeling empty, and returned feeling full. With this new skip in her step, she was able to dive head first into her studies with tenacity; something her and Hermione were able to connect over again. She would meet Draco once or twice a week in the library to study, or just to talk. She was good to her word and didn't kiss him anymore, and he was good to his, and didn't kiss anyone else. They weren't parading their friendship in front of the entire school, but it was back to normal, like it had been in the years past, and that made things easier for Eleanor.
"El, I need to ask you something, don't get mad." Draco said one evening in an abandoned library corner. The two had always enjoyed having relative privacy. They weren't sneaking around to be physical anymore, but they were both still private people, so they scheduled their meetings when the library wouldn't be crowded.
"I don't like it when you start your questions with that." Eleanor trailed suspiciously as she put her quill on the table and gave her full attention to Draco.
"Look, I know you don't like it when I talk about the Inquisitorial Squad," Eleanor rolled her eyes and shook her head in annoyance, looking back down at her assignment, "El, this is serious." Draco pleaded. Reluctantly, Eleanor looked back at him. They hadn't argued like they did at the beginning of the year since that day in her parent's room, but they still bickered lightly occasionally. "Umbridge thinks Potter has a little gang forming. Don't think I don't notice you all disappearing at random times, nowhere to be found. What are you up to?"
"I don't know what you mean." Eleanor responded cooly, keeping any semblance of dishonesty from her voice.
"El," Draco gave her a hard look. He hadn't said her full name yet, but he was getting there. "I really just want you to be safe and not get expelled, I will keep you out of it."
"Out of what?" Eleanor played dumb for a while longer. She wouldn't tell Draco about Dumbledore's Army, she refused to give her friends a reason to not trust her.
"Look, having an unsupervised club is against school policy." Draco explained.
"If Umbridge passed a new decree saying Gryffindors couldn't breathe on school grounds would you ask me to hold my breath or just suffocate me yourself?" Eleanor wondered with narrowed eyes. She was daring him to challenge her, he saw the ruthlessness in her eyes. He was trying to win her affections back, but he also wasn't one to let his pride go. And he was genuinely concerned for her.
"El, don't be like this. I'm trying to help."
"Should I consider this a warning?" Eleanor asked flat out. Draco's shoulders slumped a little at her lack of compliance.
"Yeah, I guess it is." He let out lamely.
"What about an Aquatic Herbologist?" Draco asked Eleanor as the pair sat by the lake. As the days grew warmer, they tried to get outside as much as possible. Draco had brought a handful of pamphlets and books about career paths for him and Eleanor to peruse while trying to find what Eleanor should do with her life. It was incredibly helpful of him, but these sessions caused a lot of stress in Eleanor - who never felt closer to finding her calling. "You could be a Shallow Water Aquatic Herbologist or a Deep Water Aquatic Herbologist." Draco informed as he continued reading the page. Eleanor's interest was not even remotely piqued, but she let him continue to ramble for a bit so he felt like he was being helpful. "Oh, you could specialize in medicinal harvesting or investigative work. That sounds interesting."
"Yeah," Eleanor replied unenthused as she thumbed through a pamphlet she had picked up in Hogsmeade.
"Okay, so not that." Draco nodded in understanding, putting the Encyclopedia of Herbologist Professions aside and picking up a pamphlet on Ministry Internships.
"Don't even bother with that, I'm not going to be caught dead in the Ministry." Eleanor scoffed as she caught sight of what Draco was currently reading.
"I might, though." Draco mumbled softly. Eleanor shook the pettiness from her shoulders to try to be supportive. "I just think my father would like it."
"Would you like it?" Eleanor inquired, wanting to excited for him.
"I might need to try it out and see, but I don't know, I like the idea of following in his footsteps, I guess." Draco didn't look up both in concentration, and on account of being a bit sheepish. "I think our family gets some negative attention because of his past, and I just want to redeem it by doing good in the Ministry."
Eleanor smiled widely at him. "I think that's very admirable." And she did.
"Focus on your happiest memory. Let it fill you up inside. Let that feeling take over before your cast your patronus." Harry instructed. It had taken Eleanor a few weeks to catch up with everyone else, but she was struggling far less under Harry's tutelage than under nearly all of her Defense teachers in the past, save her father.
Although, she was having a bit of trouble with the patronus. She was growing frustrated with herself that only small wisps of light were coming from her wand. She had plenty of happy memories to choose from, and while her year had been hard, she still had happiness in her past.
Harry came over to check on her after he had made his rounds. "You doing okay?" He asked softly.
"I just can't get the damn thing to work." Eleanor puffed out, clutching her wand with white knuckles.
"Okay, loosen up a bit." Harry instructed. Eleanor heaved a sigh and shook her shoulders and let go of her wand slightly. She knew she was getting too in her head about the whole thing, but the longer it took for her to succeed, the more frustrated she got.
"I'm upset, I have such happy memories, and none of them are working." She growled, Harry chuckled at the juxtaposition of her words and her tone.
"Well you can't make a patronus in anger, no matter how many happy memories you have." Harry responded, then looked around to see if there was anyone listening in. "Look, you have a lot of sadness in your life. It's just the truth. You and I both have a lot that dementors would really like to get a hold of. The memory I first used wasn't even real. It was just me, as I was at 13, talking with my parents. It doesn't have to be a real concrete thing, it can be anything that brings joy." Harry advised. "Let the joy shine through the dark, whatever it is."
Eleanor smiled at her friend, wise beyond his years, knowing that he understood her loss in a way that not many could. She took a deep breath and thought deeply, she took Harry's idea and thought about being with her parents as she was then. She thought of them in present tense for the first time in nearly a year, she thought about what that would feel like.
"Expecto Patronum." She let out, and from the end of her wand sprang a lithe bobcat that prowled along for a moment or two before disappearing. "Oh Merlin!" She let out excitedly. "Harry that worked!"
"I knew you'd get it." Harry smiled encouragingly. "Okay, everyone!" He called the attention of the room. "You've all been working so hard, and I'm so proud of all of you. I think this is a good place to end for today, and I'll see you next time." He dismissed. Eleanor usually liked to hang around with Ron, Harry, and Hermione afterwards, but had a standing meeting with Draco to work on her Potions essay. She scurried out of the Room of Requirement quickly.
She flung herself into the seat across from Draco at an isolated table in the library. Draco looked up at her swiftly before returning to his parchment.
"In a rush?" He regarded.
"Sorry, I was just doing some things." Eleanor, still riding the high of her patronus, was unable to think of an elaborate lie. She pulled out the beginning of her Potions essay from her bag and slid it across the table for Draco to read over and make critiques on. Her leg was bouncing in jubilation at her previous accomplishment. It had been a year of struggles with school, and it felt rejuvenating for her to have done something well.
"You're rather giddy today," Draco noted with a bit of humor in his voice, "especially for someone redoing another Potions essay." He chided softly. "I've read this one already."
"And it wasn't good, so I need to redo it, tell me what to fix." Eleanor brushed him off.
"El, I think you should just drop Potions." Draco joked lightly.
"Yeah, yeah. That's a problem for next year, it's too late now." Eleanor sighed, reaching into her bag once more and pulling out a Defense worksheet that she had wanted Draco to look over too. "You know Umbridge best, are my answers bullshit enough for her to buy it?"
"Defense too?" Draco tsked. "What are we going to do with you?"
"I'd be good in Defense if I had a good teacher." Eleanor sighed, knowing she did have one in Harry, but she wasn't getting graded for that.
"Somehow I doubt that." Draco replied, cringing at her worksheet.
"Well I can produce a patronus, how about that?" Eleanor shot back. "A perfect little bobcat." Draco made no reaction to her words though his wheels began turning rapidly. In that moment, she didn't realize the weight that her admission carried.
Months passed like this: Draco and Eleanor would steal a few hours a week to strengthen their friendship. Many times Draco would confess feelings and Eleanor would say it wasn't a good time, and vice versa. They were always coming up with excuses as to not be together, and both thought it was for the best at one time or another. Hermione, Harry, and Ron were suspicious of Eleanor and her regained strict friendship with Draco, but did their best to trust her words. The four of them worked hard in Dumbledore's Army, studied for their O. and generally went around trying to limit the havoc they would normally wreak on Hogwarts.
Draco's previous warning took a few months to come to fruition, however it did eventually. Eleanor was running a few minutes behind for Dumbledore's Army due to another Potions essay Snape had made her redo. She walked quickly so as to make it without being late, but was trying not to draw attention to herself when two arms snaked around her waist and pulled her into a quiet alcove.
"Shit-" Eleanor gasped out, before seeing it was Draco who pinned her to the wall. "I really don't have time for this." Eleanor breathed out, pushing lightly against his chest. "Besides, we aren't doing this anyway, and you know it." They had stayed un-romantic this long, she knew they could wait at least another hour while she perfected her Defense skills.
"Umbridge knows." Draco informed lowly. Eleanor's heart stopped at his words, both in fear for her friends and in anger at Draco. "I didn't tell her," Draco clarified, "It was Marietta who let her in on the secret." Eleanor heaved a sigh, fearing the worst punishment for her and her friends. "I told her that I wouldn't go with to bust you all, that it didn't seem like a student's place. And I couldn't let you go and be caught."
"You couldn't have told Harry, Ron, and Hermione?" Eleanor raised a brow.
"No, Eleanor, not this again." Eleanor bit the inside of her cheek, knowing by the sound of her full name that he was displeased with her. "It was too late to stop them, but not too late to stop you."
"My name is on the damn sheet, Marietta has seen me there, I'm fucked either way." Eleanor snarled softly. "I can't let my friends know that I'm a coward who abandoned them."
"El," Draco hung his head, "Umbridge already got them. They are on their way to Dumbledore's office now."
"How could you let this happen? They could be expelled!"
"Look, I figured out what was going on a long time ago." Draco revealed. "I didn't know you called yourselves Dumbledore's Army or whatever, but I knew that you were being taught spells that Umbridge wouldn't teach you."
"How?"
"You were so excited to tell me about your Patronus, it didn't take long for me to figure out the only person who could have taught you that." Draco rolled his eyes, Eleanor cringed at her naivety and her destructive need to tell Draco everything. "The only reason Umbridge didn't figure it out sooner is because I told her that you were telling me bits of information, unknowingly, that led her on a wild goose chase all around Hogwarts for any information on what you might be doing. When Marietta snitched, the first thing I did was try to warn your Saint Potter, but I didn't get to him in time, I had to at least get to you."
Eleanor was breathless at what Draco had to say. She had not been aware of his silent work against Umbridge, and more importantly, on behalf of her and her friends. He had done it without hoping for returns or gratification. Eleanor didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to think, all she knew was that Draco at this time last year wouldn't have done this.
"Thank you." She let out quietly.
A huge event that caused a lot of dread in Eleanor was her meeting with McGonagall to plan her future career path. Many study sessions with Draco had ended in Draco scoping the library for job ideas and Eleanor picturing her life doing it, then shutting it down. Hermione also tried to be helpful, but it always ended with Eleanor going into Ministry work with her, and that might have been the last place Eleanor wanted to work.
"McGonagall will help you figure it out, love." Draco assured half an hour before the meeting. Eleanor felt her heart racing.
"Don't call me that." Eleanor reminded him, panic putting her in a daze. Despite Draco being helpful to her and her friends, and despite Eleanor appreciating it greatly, the two had decided to not pursue a relationship again, but sometimes Draco seemed to forget this and still treat her like she was his girlfriend, and often when he did this, Eleanor momentarily forgot why she wasn't and would entertain the idea again.
"Worst thing that could happen is that you could live on your parents money forever and never have to work. You'd still be well off and never have to work a day in your life, you could just get married and have kids." Draco attempted a different route of comfort.
"That's very progressive of you Draco." Eleanor sneered at his comment.
"I'm only trying to help." Draco raised his hands in mock surrender.
"Am I even good at anything?" Eleanor fretted, grabbing Draco's hand in near desperation. She had asked this question close to a million times in the past few months, and Draco had always answered the same way.
"You're an amazing friend, you care about people, you're loyal, dedicated, and tenacious, and kind, and clever." Draco's response was almost robotic at this point, a knee jerk reaction to her fears, but it never lost tenderness and honesty.
"None of those are marketable skills, Draco." Eleanor pointed out in frustration.
"Maybe you don't market them." Draco suggested. "Maybe you use those skills to do meaningful things for people you love, and that could be your legacy."
"That does sound like a nice life." Eleanor took a breath and smiled at Draco. "I don't know how well that will go over with McGonagall, but I can give it a shot."
"Maybe after you and her discuss your future, you and I can talk about ours?"
"Draco," Eleanor jokingly whined, "not this again. We've talked about it, we're waiting."
"Until what, again?" Draco was near begging now, clutching Eleanor's hand in his own. It was nearly a joke between the two of them now, knowing they loved each other without ever saying it, convincing themselves that it would happen eventually, always in some distant future.
"The right time." Eleanor said softly. "I don't think now is that time." She thought of her friends, who were still convinced that Draco's father was a Death Eater, and that Draco wasn't unlike him. They didn't believe her when she told them what he had done for Dumbledore's Army, and now with Dumbledore gone and Umbridge all but ransacking the school, an easy target for their frustrations was Draco, who despite abandoning the badge and skipping meetings, was technically still a member of the Inquisitorial Squad. "I have to go." She said lightly, and pulled her hand from Draco's as she walked to McGonagall's office.
"Hello Professor." She greeted, trying to keep her voice calm.
"Miss Cordarri, welcome." Professor McGonagall had always been exceedingly kind to Eleanor, especially after her parents had passed. She made sure everything got done, and didn't let Eleanor slack, but she knew when to make exceptions. "It's been a long year for you." She noted. Eleanor nodded somewhat sadly, trying to ignore the pink blob of Umbridge sitting in the corner. "Have you given much thought to what you would like to explore post-Hogwarts?"
"I've given it incredible thought, Professor." Eleanor let out with a humorless laugh. "And I can't seem to come up with anything."
"That's perfectly normal, dear, you are quite young." McGonagall slid a plate of biscuits over to Eleanor, who took one to be polite, but didn't eat it due to her anxious stomach.
"I would have thought your parents would have raised you better than to not have a plan." Umbridge muttered indignantly.
"Just ignore her, Eleanor, I do." Professor McGonagall let out quickly, not sparing a glance at Umbridge. Harry had had his meeting earlier in the week, and had told the story in great detail about how McGonagall had said her piece to Umbridge and how civility was no longer an even remote option between the two. But it was hard for Eleanor to ignore comments like that, and with the anniversary of the death of her parents fast approaching, that comment dug deep.
"I mean, I want to be productive and help people and have a real purpose," Eleanor tried to formulate her next sentence carefully, but lost control and just went for the jugular, "so definitely not a Ministry job." She looked directly at Umbridge with narrowed eyes, and McGonagall let the tiniest smile creep onto her lips.
"What is your dear friend Draco Malfoy thinking of doing?" Umbridge spoke softly, knowing that he did want to pursue a Ministry career, or was at least planning on it. She was trying to be smug and use Eleanor's friendship with Draco to set an example, Eleanor felt bile rising in her throat and she tried to bite down her anger. "He's such a nice boy, perhaps you should try to be more like him."
"I believe that currently the only thing on Draco Malfoy's mind is coming up with clever ways to get me to fall in love with him, the latest being leaving your Inquisitorial Squad to show me how serious he is about being upstanding and not a bully." Eleanor snapped in spite of herself. "The only way you will see me working in the Ministry is if I were your boss, because the most productive thing I can think to do would be to get rid of you and fill the position with literally anyone else." Umbridge opened her mouth wide to begin an angry diatribe, but Eleanor pushed her chair back. "I'll take my detention with Professor McGonagall. I'm not in the mood for a new scar on my hand."
