The last few weeks of January passed by in a blur of DA meetings, Hufflepost meetings, a mountain of homework and lessons with Malfoy that had become stiflingly formal and were easily the most dreaded part of Eleanor's day.
When Valentine's Day arrived Eleanor was finally relieved to have a whole day away from all the work and stress, getting up with Cynthia early in the morning to begin choosing outfits and do their hair and makeup.
"I wonder if Umbridge has ever had a Valentine?" Cynthia asks around the bobby pins held between her teeth as she does her best to tame her hair which, now that it was growing out, was in an awkward stage of being both too long and too short to do anything with.
"Ugh. Probably not, maybe that's why she's so horrible." Eleanor replies, checking her reflection and adjusting her own hair.
"Mmm probably. Ah, I need to do something about my hair and soon. Just look at this regrowth!" She pouts, as Eleanor acknowledges the growing situation of Cynthia's hair. What had started out as a bright bubblegum blue was now faded and dull and the regrowth of Cynthia's light brown hair wasn't improving the look.
"That's the problem with Hogwarts. Nowhere to go to get your hair done. Should've done something about it during the holidays."
"I couldn't."
"Hmm, well if you want I'm sure I can have a go at cutting off the colour at least."
"No thanks. I need you cutting my hair like I need a stinging jinx to the face."
Doing the best she can to finish arranging her hair the two of them wait in the common room for Susan to wake up before heading up to the Great Hall for breakfast and to pass time while they waited to go to Hogsmeade.
"Susan, who are you bringing to lunch?" Cynthia asks as the three of them make their way into Hogsmeade, eager to get some shopping done before meeting up with the boys.
"Camilla Birch."
"Who?"
"You know, she's a Hufflepuff in the year above, I group up with her at DA meetings sometimes. And at the last one she mentioned having no plans yet for Valentine's Day so I asked her if she'd like to come along."
Walking into Hogsmeade the trio make their way through the shops, buying lollies from Honeydukes to replenish their stock back up at the castle before wandering into Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop and Dervish and Banges occasionally one of them buying something they needed to replace for school.
Outside Zonko's Joke Shop, unsurprisingly they come across George, Fred and their friend Lee Jordan.
"Happy Valentine's," George says when he spots Cynthia pulling her close as they instantly forget the world around them.
"I just vomited a little in my mouth," Susan says to Eleanor, who nods, averting her eyes to give the two a modicum of privacy.
"Fred, Lee, how are you two spending your day?" Eleanor asks the others who seem to also be trying not to ogle the pair.
"Probably just hang around Zonko's, maybe duck into the three broomsticks for some food before going back up to the castle," Fred says.
"You two won't need lunch if you keep eating each other's faces," Susan says in a matter of fact voice, the only one who hadn't blushed and looked away.
Despite Susan's comment George and Cynthia don't make any response and Fred suggests going for a look through Zonko's while they wait for them to rejoin the rest of them.
"We'll show you the best products to buy in preparation for April Fools," Fred says, leading them inside.
When they emerge Cynthia and George have broken apart and are waiting patiently for the others to come out to head off for lunch, George's arm wrapped around her shoulder.
"Do you two ever fully separate?" Fred jokes when he walks out and spots them.
"Fred, I am simply being a nice boyfriend and keeping my date warm."
"Yeah because the cardigan, jumper, sweater, gloves, scarf and beanie just aren't cutting it," Susan says from the back of the group.
"You're just full of remarks today aren't you?" Cynthia asks, smiling a little.
Saying goodbye to Fred and Lee the four of them enter the Three Broomsticks where they find Reggie already sitting at a large table with another girl with long black hair and a Hufflepuff scarf on.
"Hi, you must be Camilla." Eleanor says, taking a seat beside Reggie who pecks her lightly on her cheek.
"I swear if this turns into a makeout session Camilla and I will be ordering our food to go," Susan says taking a seat beside Camilla who laughs a little too loudly.
"No one's making out with anyone," Reggie says sharply, his stern gaze fixed on George.
A momentary silence falls on the table as George and Reggie seem to size one another up before Cynthia jumps up from her seat and gets everyone's orders for lunch.
"El, will you help me bring over the drinks," she asks.
"Be nice," Eleanor whispers to Reggie before getting up to follow her friend over to the bar.
"What the hell is that about?" Cynthia asks while they wait for the drinks to be made.
"Oh it's nothing. He's your older brother. He's bound to be a little overprotective and prickly towards anyone that you date."
The two of them glance back over at the table where Susan and Camilla look to be having a great time while Reggie and George just sit staring at one another.
"Truth is. I don't think he's the biggest fan of George right now. But-" Eleanor says, holding her hand up to stop Cynthia from interrupting her, "I am sure that after today, when he sees how happy you two are together and how genuinely nice George is that his mind will change."
"It better."
Carrying the drinks back over to the group they arrive just in time to hear Camilla let out another laugh at something Susan has said.
"Here you go," Eleanor says, placing a mug of butterbeer down in front of Reggie. "Lunch shouldn't be too long."
Reggie nods in acknowledgment, still not tearing his gaze away from George and again an awkward silence descends upon the table.
"Uh so, thanks for letting me tag along," Camilla says, "Susan said you guys wouldn't mind and it definitely beats spending the day back up in the castle."
"No worries. I'm sorry we haven't ever really talked much, but I do remember your face from around the common room. You play a lot of wizard's chess yeah?"
"Yeah that's me," Camilla nods with a smile, "I love it, I used to play normal muggle chess when I was little and then after I arrived at Hogwarts another student introduced me to the wizard's version and I've been playing it ever since."
Camilla's presence proves to be exactly what they need as the conversation sparks up again with everyone asking her questions, anything to avoid Reggie and George coming to a confrontation.
Lunch arrives not long after and everyone eats in relative silence, only commenting on how good the food is. Occasionally Cynthia and George will whisper something to the other and laugh or smile which only seemed to aggravate Reggie more.
"I'll go get some more drinks shall I?" George says after lunch is finished, making his way over to the bar.
"Okay what the hell is your problem," Cynthia asks the moment he is out of earshot.
"What problem? I've been perfectly amicable."
"Amicable my ass you've barely said a word and you've spent all your time staring down my boyfriend."
"Oh I agree. And kudos to George because you have managed to perfect the kind of withering gaze Professor McGonagall would be proud of and that boy has not flinched once," Susan interjects from her end of the table, earning her own withering stare from him.
"And ah, on that, Camilla and I are going to go. I'll see you two later."
The two of them get up, go over to find George and say goodbye and then slip out of the Three Broomsticks hand in hand.
Eleanor watched them go and felt a little jealous that they had both seemed to have had a nice time and she had spent all of lunch nudging Reggie in the leg whenever he looked about to say something to George.
"Come on Cynthia, you can hardly blame me for not liking the guy. He's a class clown, you could do so much better."
"Excuse me? How dare you, George is not just a class clown and I don't appreciate you talking about him that way. I don't care if I'm your little sister and you have this thing about me dating someone. You will be happy for me."
"No, because I know you Cyn, you're only dating him as a way to get back at mum and dad. Some crazy way to grab their attention when you bring him home for the holidays."
"Reggie stop it," Eleanor says from beside him, watching as George draws closer to the table at the noise the two were making with their argument.
"I'm not just going to pretend I'm happy for you. You're just a child you don't know what you want, I'm just trying to look out for you."
"What about Eleanor, does she know what she wants? Is she a child? Maybe you aren't right for her," Cynthia snaps back, her voice rising with anger.
"What's going on," George asks as he reaches the table, automatically reaching to comfort Cynthia.
"We're leaving, that's what's going on. Sorry you had to sit through that Eleanor, I'll see you back in the common room later." With that she stands up and marches out, George hanging back for a moment.
"I have no intentions of hurting your sister, if that's why you-,"
"She's using you as some sort of childish way to get our parent's attention, don't say I didn't warn you," Reggie growls from his seat.
"I don't think she's the childish one here," George says calmly, before saying goodbye to Eleanor and turning to follow after Cynthia.
"I'm sorry I couldn't. I could not just sit quietly while she makes a mistake like this." Reggie says, turning to face Eleanor.
"She's your sister. You could have just said nothing, better yet you could have actually made an effort."
Eleanor didn't know how she felt about the outburst she'd just seen, and something inside her kept telling her to go after Cynthia but she knew George would be there and decided to let them try and enjoy the rest of their Valentine's together.
"I just want what's best for her."
"Yeah well, maybe what's best is that you keep your distance for a bit," Eleanor says, standing up from the table. Reggie suddenly looking dejected and hurt. Sighing she holds out her hand to him, "Come on, walk me back up to the castle and I'll try and forget just how much of an overprotective ass you can be."
When they finally return to the castle Reggie has cheered up, and kisses Eleanor lightly on the cheek before parting ways to go to his own common room.
"How'd the rest of lunch go?" Susan asks when Eleanor walks into the common room.
"Awful. You have the best sense of timing."
"Strong survival instincts," She says, beside her Camilla waves at Eleanor with a small smile.
"We're playing exploding snap if you wanna join."
"Yeah and there's a ton of chocolate if you want some of that too," Susan says, sliding a box of it across the floor to sit beside the stack of cards.
"As long as it's not intruding."
"Not at all, the more the merrier," Camilla says, patting the spot beside her for Eleanor to sit.
They played late into the evening, even after Cynthia had returned gushing over how remarkable George had been in cheering her up and producing even more chocolate to snack on as they played.